The Personal Growth Journey: Seeing Others Clearly from a Distance

The Personal Growth Journey: Seeing Others Clearly from a Distance

When we hear phrases like "personal growth" "self-development" or "inner work," they overtly sound very "me" centric

When you do the work of truly solving the puzzle of yourself, however, there is a covert operation happening simultaneously.

Learning about ourselves can be frightening, unpleasant and overwhelming. It can also be beautiful, empowering and liberating.

The more we dig, the more we discover the origins and causes of our stories, beliefs, limitations and dysfunctions.

The more we understand that certain behaviors are merely maladaptive coping mechanisms and not fatal flaws, the more compassionate we can be towards ourselves.

The more compassionate we can be towards ourselves, the more compassionate we can be towards others.

The tricky part comes from recognizing that while we can use our newly found wisdom about ourselves as fertilizer for self-growth and transformation, we must use our newly found knowledge about others the exact same way: for SELF growth.

While it may be tempting to use our insights about others to "help" them, or guide them, that is not our job, unless we are asked.

We all see the world through a filter of experiences, hopes, wants, dreams and fears.

When we begin to understand other people’s lenses, our lens perceiving them also shifts.

Picture wearing dirty mirrored glasses and staring into someone else's mirrored glasses. Unless and until we clean off our own lens, our view of ourselves in relation to them will always be skewed.

Seeing other people more clearly, gives us the gift of being able to see ourselves more clearly too, and there is nothing selfish about that.