IF IT WERE YOU

Multiple people can do the same thing,
say the same thing,
seem to have the same attitude, or
act in the same way, yet
we treat them different
dependent on who they are.
Do we allow a behavior to trigger
the same emotion
regardless of who it is?

Am I as irritated by the
slow driver who is a stranger
as I am by the slow driver who
I know is my sibling?
Does my knowing you mean
I average things out over time
vs judging based on one experience.
Do we judge others
by the one thing we know they did
while judging others
by the average of our experiences?

We are all the masked singer for someone.
for someone,
we are the one who irritated them,
got on their last nerve,
drove too slow,
cut them off,
or engaged in whatever it was that
made you want to cuss them out
until we were unmasked
and you realized who it was.
Who are you the masked singer for?
What if it were you? 

THANK YOU

To all the people who have gotten on my nerves,
Thank you.
You have taught me so much
about myself.
You have taught me to
turn the mirror on myself
and see that same quality
in myself and learn from it,
so thank you.

To all the people who have hurt me
Thank you.
You too have taught me to
look at why I allowed you to do so.
You helped me grow and become
more aware of where I needed to heal,
what expectations I needed to release, and
what else I needed to release in my own life,
so thank you.

To all the people who have not lived up
to my expectations.
Thank you.
You have taught me to look at what
I was still expecting and not aware o.
You have reminded me of the difference
between expectation and agreement.
You have helped me to seek clarification,
in those situations where I did not have it,
so thank you.

To all those who have helped me to grow,
because something you did hurt me,
disappointed me,
let me down,
irritated me,
or just got on my last nerve,
thank you.