What if Irony is Judging Others for Lacking Empathy?
Sometimes,
we pit two concepts
as opposites,
when, in fact,
they are perpendicular.
For example,
if we pit
honesty and kindness
as opposites,
we may feel forced
to choose either or.
But if we pit them
as perpendiculars,
we can aim
to learn a new choice
with which to do both
at the same time.
A trap we often fall into is “either/or” thinking.
Someone professes their pain, we think they mean our pain is less. Not necessarily.
Someone says their achievement is great, we think they mean our achievement is less. Not necessarily.
Someone says something they have is worth much, we think they mean something we have is worth less. Not necessarily.
As the saying goes, it’s easy to judge others by their behaviors while judging ourselves by our intentions.
It can be difficult to realize our empathy so as to understand what others intend to mean over what we think they mean.
Yet, this can save us a ton of time and energy in the end.