I
recently finished reading a book, written by a pastor entitled, “Didn’t see
it coming; Overcoming the 7 greatest challenges that no one expects and
everyone experiences.”
Frankly, I didn’t
find it all that helpful—except for one part which was truly insightful. The
author writes:
Self-aware
people understand not only what their own emotions and actions are, but also
how their emotions and actions affect others…the key problem I had is that I
didn’t realize what it was like to be on the other side of me…Think about it.
How many times have you had a bad day only to not know why you’re having a bad
day? And then how many times has your mysteriously bad day had a negative impact
on your spouse, your kids, and your coworkers? Far too often, right? Me
too…Self-aware people refuse to let a bad day on the inside spill out to other
on the outside. And even when they do allow this to happen, they realize
they’re hurting others and apologize or take other steps to mitigate the
damage” (199).
I’d like
to dismiss this as just so much psychobabble (probably because it is way too
convicting)! But the reality is that it is not so much psychobabble as it is
just one aspect of Jesus’ “Golden Rule” of doing unto others as you would have
others do unto you.”
