The Benefit of Seeing the Big Picture

 There is a huge benefit to be had in giving others the benefit of the doubt. I often assume that people actions are based on selfishness, disrespect, laziness etc.-  but in reality there are underlying reasons for this behavior, if I only understood them. Perhaps that slow driver has crying kids in the backseat or their directions aren’t loading. Maybe my boss had a big fight with her husband just before we met. Often such bothersome behaviors have nothing to do with me. If I choose to connect to empathy rather than, anger, shaming or rejecting them, I build a more joyful relationship to my world. Assuming the best instead of the worst opens me up to a softer reality that is far less oppressive. When I can see another’s humanity, I can expand that empathy towards myself. After all, it really comes down to self-love, doesn’t it?