Isn't it so much easier to point fingers at someone else? Isn't it easier to let the pieces fall where they may, even if they fell in the wrong place? And isn't it easier to be self-righteous and prideful, rather than knocking down our walls to show something a little less appealing? That's our problem as a society, we go for the easiest route, and that's why we make a mess of things so often.
This simple and ugly truth isn't all that apparent until the damage has been done. We don't have a time machine and we can't take back the things we say and do. Something has been broken and more often than not, we have to ride the wave rather than trying to swim through it. But, as cliché as it sounds, it's how we ride that wave that can make or break if we get crushed by impact, or we land safely on the shore.
It's easy to avoid a problem. Out of sight out of mind right? Well, no not exactly. Here's the thing, when problems arise, there is typically more than one person involved. Two people means two sides of the story. And if we let time sit between those two stories without addressing them both head on, it's like taking gasoline to a small fire. It will only make the problem worse. And by the time there is a fire burning everything in sight, there's nothing left to resolve. It's all just ash.
It's also easy to point fingers. It always has been. We learn this when we are young and we used to find that it could get us out of some pretty sticky situations. But maturity is supposed to teach us that placing blame on others doesn't do the trick like it used to. Now, it only shows others that we aren't strong enough to accept responsibility for our actions. Deep down, our conscience knows we are to blame. So, regardless if the people we hurt know we are at fault, we know ourselves. And that is a whole other, and incredibly large battle to fight.
It's easy to find one fault in someone else to justify our actions. It's amazing how we can hurt the people we love simply by referring to a single issue and calling that hurt justifiable. We tend to forget that people have flaws and they make mistakes. We can't be perfect every minute of every day. We can get so consumed with one mistake or flaw, that we completely forget that we have about 20 of our own. It's sad how the people we love care enough to look past those flaws, but we hold on to just one of theirs and call it a reason to inflict pain. Do unto others as you would have others to unto you. The golden rule applies here, and everywhere.
Don't push people away because a mistake has been made or words were said and got lost in translation. It's important that we assess all sides of a situation. The 360-degree view shows much more than the 180 our minds tend to see. Be kind. Be compassionate. Be understanding. And be forgiving. It's not always easy to be those things, especially when we feel we've been hurt or treated unfairly, but it's the right way to act in order to keep a problem at bay.
