Seeing the Best or the Worst

Tendencies to see the worst in people is easy, but it is just as easy to see the best in someone. Most disagreements can be solved through good communication. There are always differences in values, and learning to show more respect for humanity, for an individual, is unending. In the process of accepting others, there is an easy choice to be made in every moment, do we want to see the best, or the worst in someone?

Our beliefs about others are who they are to us. This is not who they really are, behave, or feel in any given situation. Rather, we are responsible for our views, others are not. Considering the power of influence in this interaction, we guard our ideas about others most recklessly.

Sure, we might see a lot, but that doesn’t mean we draw accurate conclusions. We might think we know what’s going on, and then talk to someone with a different understanding. Taking ownership and gaining accuracy in our perspectives takes work, a good kind of effort to keep our attitudes willing to learn. Accurate conclusions are also justified, but perhaps there is a different reason than imagined behind another’s conduct.

We form opinions in moments of interaction. Moments are opportunities; they are the matrix. We all have assumptions, most of which are partial, misinformed, and wanting for truth. It’s perfectly fine to disagree, but to disagree without knowing, seems like an awful big waste of a relationship. It seems so easy to put people at stake. There is room for expansion.

The health of our families is dependent on our perspectives of ourselves and one another. Nothing in the realm of relativity and perspective is wrong or right. Everyone has their own identity. Seeing the best in someone is being able share in their fluidity and authenticity even when they are different. We all can appreciate the deep and kindred connections we experience with others and could share more in this if we were all thinking better of one another.

Accepting differences is challenging, even threatening to some. Emotions and behavior can muddy the waters of perspective and communication. Finding clarity in someone’s individualism is worth more than trends, gossip, or pride. If a person wants to believe what they see is correct, and it’s their way or the highway, most people will take the highway.

People betray, disagree, lie, but this is not a reason to keep our own minds in the dark concerning motive and situation. Personal approval and disapproval are not the scales of justice. Just how far will we take equality when considering whose opinion is important? When we offer the space to create a new story, rewrite the daily script about people, and for people, we are more culturally aware.

All of us navigate a balance between understanding who, what, and why people, including ourselves, act the way we do. It’s okay to address the problem but speak to the solution. It’s okay to give our loved ones the benefit of doubt, to be easy with one another, to trust. Create a habit of thinking the best about someone. It changes things. It doesn’t hurt any worse than thinking bad of someone, even if the best does not manifest. Let’s believe in one another.