People do you wrong sometimes. Whether that be leaving you on "read" or leaving you alone in a time where you needed them the most, it is so easy to fall into the trap of wanting revenge. Surface level, the concept sounds great. Well, I'm just saving karma some time. They deserve to be treated the same way they treated me. Whatever your justification may be, revenge isn't all it's cracked up to be...

Think about a time when you weren't little miss sunshine. Perhaps that time when you purposely cut in line at Old Navy. Or maybe you gave a less than excited expression when your friend told you she got an A on her English essay. You may have great excuses for those instances. The lady in front of me had 16 items and I only had one. Or, I just got a bad grade on my Calculus exam so I wasn't in the mood to talk. Well, how come your excuses are valid but when someone does something similar it is inexcusable?

Rewind to that time you cut in line at Old Navy. What if that woman you cut in line from tripped you? She got her revenge just like what you want to do to someone. Not so just now is it? The truth of the matter is we only know one side of the story. If we knew the whole truth, the thought of revenge would truly disgust us. How could we hurt this person now that we know what they've been through...

Unfortunately, it is impossible to know every detail that makes an individual the way they are. That is why it's important to empathize. This is not reason to justify a person's constant blatant rudeness or continuous disregard for others. But it is a tool that we can use to better understand why this person is acting this way at this moment. A good strategy to utilize to be more empathetic would be to go all "Freaky Friday" and imagine the roles switched. Think back to a time where you were the rude one. What validation did you give yourself? Now picture that exact same scenario occurring to the person who was rude to you. You can't dismiss their excuse now that it's identical to yours, and it forces you to better understand that individual.

Now this person that was rude to you may or may not have had a bad day. But rather than completely writing them off as someone you will never speak to again, you will (hopefully) give them a second chance.