Wednesday, September 15, 2010

...understanding




I've been thinking a lot about behavior...by myself and others...and I always get curious about why people act the way they do.


For me, I find myself frustrated with people a LOT for one reason or another...it's the nature of human relationships and one of our greatest sources of education and growth (which is how I think God intended it...but it's also TERRIBLY painful, which is why I believe I shy away from human interaction many times). My frustration is often tempered when I'm faced with other's frustration with me...either my lack of engagement...the odd way I can seem to connect with someone when really keeping them at arm's length...my time-honed method of spending a LOT of time around people even when I would rather not...to which my response is always "but if only you knew WHY I act like this..."


I've heard several times over the years that we are merely the sum total of our experiences...and if this is true, then our interactions with people should be viewed through that lens. EVERYONE has a past, be it positive or negative, and that past colors our present...to what extent is up to us...if we're even aware of it. I'm not saying we need to conduct psychological evaluations on everyone in our lives to determine what their root issues are...but I AM saying that when we encounter an odd or uncomfortable behavior, our dealings would be eased with a simple attempt to consider that SOMETHING made them that way...gave the impression that their behavior was either acceptable or necessary.


Let's be real, NONE of this is comfortable, but humans are messy by nature...life has an uncanny way of depositing things and withdrawing others...some never to be found again. Most of them come in some way through human interaction...and a clearer understanding of those interactions would go a long way towards both protecting ourselves and avoiding doing further damage to others. The statement "hey, I KNOW how I get..." is a mainstay in my vocabulary...and it should apply when dealing with others...it's not to excuse people, but should merely be the entrance into an attempt to apply understanding to our relationships (regardless of the level) with others.


Maybe I'm just idealistic, I just dream of a world where we attempt to deal with each other on a more even and understanding level...maybe we'll find we're more alike than we know...would that be such a bad thing?


2 comments:

  1. Man! I was just confronted about my lack of engagement, keeping people at arms length...I feel like this is my bio lol.

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  2. Good stuff, homie... I'll make this a regular blog pit stop! ;-)

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