Hold Up, Wait A Minute
How do you know me better than I know myself? What gives you the right and the knowledge to judge me and make decisions on my behalf when you obviously don't have the amount of logic nor background to make such assumptions? Why is it that you decide to hear one side of the story and automatically assume that what you heard was the correct version? Have you ever stopped to think that there might be 2 options? That there may be more than one perspective with more than one truth? No I'm not mad nor do I resent you: I'm definitely disappointed that you think that way about me but if I ever found out who you were, I wouldn't hold it against you because I know that you're human and that you probably didn't think it through. Maybe you did it because you thought you were protecting one of your friends or because you had some secret vendetta against me that I never knew about. But that's okay - let it all out because I don't mind. Sure I'll admit it doesn't feel great to be accused or to be assumed about that way, but you definitely will not see me crumble because of you. I just finished gaining the confidence to tell myself that I was okay, that the way I live my life is my decision and I have no malicious intentions, and I'm not about to lose that newfound confidence. I believe that everything in life happens for a reason and maybe I'm being tested - but I'm determined not to fail that test. It's taken me a long time to become who I am today and to become as happy and as confident as I am now in myself and who I have become.
Granted, I'm not writing this post just to analyze your intentions or to rant about my feelings. Of course not, that's never just it.
All too often in this society we're quick to assume and to point fingers, but over the years (yes I'm a high school student but regardless...) I have learned that there is so much more to people than what we hear or see. We don't know what they have been through or what their true intentions were and so we have no right to assume or to judge or to point fingers. Who are we? We're bystanders and passersby to them - we're not the driver in their lives. So how are we to know and to assert our guesses and imagined stories?
This post is not meant to belittle or to patronize but to emphasize that the two most important things (at least in my opinion) are understanding and the willingness to listen, because only then will we be able to gain the insight that we need to empathize with and understand each other.