Day 17: See Others as People

I had a humbling experience this morning while driving. First of all, it was back to horrible traffic as usual so it made me really appreciate the holiday break when it felt like I was actually getting somewhere. But more importantly, I had one of those moments of realization that what surrounded me were not just cars, they were people. People just like me. Things have been rough for me lately, so I thought about what all these people's lives were like. Statistically speaking I assumed there were many other stories around me that probably were challenging those drivers as well.

I feel like it's easy to forget that the strangers we encounter every day lead lives that are just as complex and colorful as ours. I think of my story and not only what I'm going through now, but what I've been through. I think about the weeks after I was taken advantage of by a close friend. I walked around my high school with a dark and troubling secret. I had been raped. And no one knew. To everyone else, it was life as normal. The most important things to them were typical for teenagers - what am I going to wear today, did I finish my homework, am I ready for this test, why did she give me that nasty look, I wonder if I'll have a date to prom...etc. For me, it was a completely different reality. 

Although it might be easy to fall into this trap of living your life as the star of a movie that everyone else is supporting actors in, it would be admirable to attempt to remember that we all play starring roles in our own lives and are all equally important. This tends to happen in such extreme instances as war - when soldiers are built up to look at the enemy as scum of the Earth who are evil and deserve to die. Of course soldiers couldn't view their enemy as people just like them. How could they kill someone who was just like them? They only exist so that I may "win the war" and defeat them.

Okay, I might be a little all over the place with this one but my main point is that the more we can see everyone as equals, even if that means making up a story for them (he cut me off in traffic because his wife is going into labor), the more respect we inherently show. The more understanding we can exhibit. The more empathy we can practice. I do believe, as corny as it sounds, that the more we're capable of doing this everyday, the better the world can be. 

Peace and Love.

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