to each bag his own

Everyone has their own grocery bag of issues which can manifest as a paper bag without handles, a paper bag with handles, a plastic bag, or the new and ever so trendy re-usable version. They come in many forms and in many displays. There isn't one person who doesn't have them. I feel like the only opportunity one would take in saying they don't exist on an internal level is due to lack of self awareness.

And interestingly enough, I see these sometimes as faults in other people. I think of them negatively and when they are manifested in other people, I turn my nose up at them. And usually what will happen is I will see these things, and really internalize them. I will let them build and at that one moment where I feel the water is about to boil over the top of the pot, I will release it. But this is where I think that the problem arises: when I do feel the need to release it, it is very seldom to that person. It is usually to a confidant, someone else that I can trust with that information. But what am I really saying when I am releasing it?

I am judging it and labeling it. I am really expressing frustration for someone being nothing more than different from me. And the thing is I know I have these discrepencies, or grocery bags of issues too, so where do I find the right to act as though I am above it?

In this last instance, I have seen that I feel an enormous amount of perspective is really critical here. For we cannot judge something in someone else that we have within us as well. It isn't fair to be hypocritical. So here I am right now, having the opportunity to find the best balance for myself in handling my own and others' "bag of individuality."

I see myself here thinking about what is at the heart of human interaction. Each involvement that I have with someone allows me more and more insight into who they are at the core. And with that comes knowledge and wonder and excitement. And I come to the conclusion that: at the end of the day, everybody has their own bag. In my opinion, they are what make someone unique, so instead of judging and labeling them, I will take that negativity and transform it into something more beneficial. For me it isn't a matter of whether or not those elements are going to exist in someone else, for me it is about how I use them in my daily life that will be of benefit. And see these faults more of as treasures, for without them...there would be no adventure in interaction.