Point of View

We don’t see things as they are; we see them as we are.  – Anais Nin

As we move through life, we see situations around us, we see people behave in certain ways, and we hear people say certain things. We think we are seeing what is truly in front of us. We think everyone around us is also seeing the same thing and having the same experience. But really each person is seeing something a little bit different.

Have you ever been in a conversation where you thought one person was angry with another, and found out later that the person involved always spoke that way? Or you found out that another person in the same conversation interpreted it completely differently? Have you ever thought someone did not like you, only to find out that that’s the way they are around everyone, and that it wasn’t just you?

We all see things around us based on our own previous experiences. We judge what happens, what people do, and what people say based on what we were taught was “normal” and “right” and “good” when we were growing up.

I have gotten myself into so much trouble over the years from getting stuck in my own point of view, or believing someone else’s point of view over my own… The best solution I’ve come up with is to assume that people are always doing the best they can at any given moment. I do not know what they were taught was normal, right, and good while they were growing up. I don’t know what is happening in the rest of their lives that may explain why they’re saying the things they are. I recognize my point of view is incomplete. And I also recognize that their point of view of me is incomplete, which means they may judge something I do or say in a way that I didn’t intend.

What do you think? Do you have another way of seeing things more “as they are”? Leave a comment!

Until next time, remember… We are all magnificent.