So Many
Notifications OFF
Yesterday I was shocked to see SO many homeless people around our city centre (both men & women). It was bitter cold - they were huddled under filthy duvets surrounded by discarded food packaging, some getting comfort from a warm coffee cup a passer by had bought them.
I'm ashamed to think in the past I would have been so judgmental of seeing this - but how I've changed, I think deeper into situations - wonder how life dragged them down to have to survive like this, it surely shouldn't happen these days.
Do you feel being on this journey has changed your way of thinking by looking deeper when you hear or see other people's heartbreaks, being more tolerant and understanding? It's certainly affected my way of thinking, hopefully into a better more rounded person.
just curious x
I'm ashamed to think in the past I would have been so judgmental of seeing this - but how I've changed, I think deeper into situations - wonder how life dragged them down to have to survive like this, it surely shouldn't happen these days.
Do you feel being on this journey has changed your way of thinking by looking deeper when you hear or see other people's heartbreaks, being more tolerant and understanding? It's certainly affected my way of thinking, hopefully into a better more rounded person.
just curious x
Absolutely. I've always tried to be understanding but with what's happened in my life I don't think I understood what that meant before.
At work when people are in a bad mood, I'm much better at thinking what are you going through when you leave here? Passer bys in the street, what are they dealing with?
And a lot more thoughtful about offenders. Previously I'd have thought the worst of them. And whilst I still don't understand and I can't ever condone the actions, I can see that is nowhere near the black and white picture I thought it was. If I read an article about an offender my thought process has changed entirely.
Perhaps the only potential positive to come from this - the making of a more empathetic person - we definitely need more in the world in general.
At work when people are in a bad mood, I'm much better at thinking what are you going through when you leave here? Passer bys in the street, what are they dealing with?
And a lot more thoughtful about offenders. Previously I'd have thought the worst of them. And whilst I still don't understand and I can't ever condone the actions, I can see that is nowhere near the black and white picture I thought it was. If I read an article about an offender my thought process has changed entirely.
Perhaps the only potential positive to come from this - the making of a more empathetic person - we definitely need more in the world in general.
Absolutely. I've always tried to be understanding but with what's happened in my life I don't think I understood what that meant before.
At work when people are in a bad mood, I'm much better at thinking what are you going through when you leave here? Passer bys in the street, what are they dealing with?
And a lot more thoughtful about offenders. Previously I'd have thought the worst of them. And whilst I still don't understand and I can't ever condone the actions, I can see that is nowhere near the black and white picture I thought it was. If I read an article about an offender my thought process has changed entirely.
Perhaps the only potential positive to come from this - the making of a more empathetic person - we definitely need more in the world in general.
At work when people are in a bad mood, I'm much better at thinking what are you going through when you leave here? Passer bys in the street, what are they dealing with?
And a lot more thoughtful about offenders. Previously I'd have thought the worst of them. And whilst I still don't understand and I can't ever condone the actions, I can see that is nowhere near the black and white picture I thought it was. If I read an article about an offender my thought process has changed entirely.
Perhaps the only potential positive to come from this - the making of a more empathetic person - we definitely need more in the world in general.
Yes my experience has changed my outlook, I now know how easy it is for good people to find themselves doing bad things, how the situations people find themselves in are rarely black and white, how we never really know what's going on in someone's life and what pain and suffering they may be hiding. I also know that broken people still deserve love, kindness and support and that I'm capable of seeing past someone else's wrongdoing to offer that love, friendship and support to them.
Beautifully written and very very true Ocean.
I agree, beautifully said. What a lovely thing to go to sleep on xxx
Very well put Ocean x
Totally, always thought I was empathetic, but since this I find myself thinking about how people got to this place, every awful crime reported I think of everyone involved family of the victim and the perpetrator. An amazing lady was on the radio this morning who lost her son in the Manchester bombing who spends her time going into schools trying to engage with kids about how to avoid being groomed online into radical views. It was an antidote to the hate and vitriol
Someone very close to me once said something to me that stuck with me, "just because you did one monstrous thing, it doesn't mean you're lost forever" I thought I'd understood it at the time, that redemption allows for you to be forgiven, it turns out that it was about so much more than just that.
I'll admit that being on this journey deepened my understanding of that phrase far more than I'd ever expected, I find myself so much more patient with people, more willing to listen, to put myself in their shoes and empathose with whatever they're going through. I feel like that can be applied to everyone here, trauma may not make someone more compassionate but it definitely awakens you to the suffering you may otherwise walk past without noticing. I've found myself more willing to offer help to people I'd previously never dreamed of interacting with by choice, and I'll admit I feel happier for it, I feel like a better person than I was, like the person I see in the mirror is a man I could admire now.
Most days it can be easy to spiral, especially with everything in the news these days, but it's important to hold onto those moments of humanity that you can create, those small actions you can control and to use that control to lift someone up, you never know, it may be you who needs that helping hand one day.
I'll admit that being on this journey deepened my understanding of that phrase far more than I'd ever expected, I find myself so much more patient with people, more willing to listen, to put myself in their shoes and empathose with whatever they're going through. I feel like that can be applied to everyone here, trauma may not make someone more compassionate but it definitely awakens you to the suffering you may otherwise walk past without noticing. I've found myself more willing to offer help to people I'd previously never dreamed of interacting with by choice, and I'll admit I feel happier for it, I feel like a better person than I was, like the person I see in the mirror is a man I could admire now.
Most days it can be easy to spiral, especially with everything in the news these days, but it's important to hold onto those moments of humanity that you can create, those small actions you can control and to use that control to lift someone up, you never know, it may be you who needs that helping hand one day.
There are some beautiful sentiments on this thread that I can completely relate to. How lovely that those of us impacted by such horrendous events can come through it with such a positive shift in our mindsets. That in itself is something to hold on to in the face of adversity, no one should judge until they have walked in that person's shoes.