Seek understanding first...

For those of you that don’t know, some of my posts here are specifically requested by someone else.  That being said, this post and the next were to have specific topics.  However, I have to deviate for a moment to talk about helping others. 

Side Note for my brother-in-law - This post may be lengthy but let me have just a few more minutes of your time and read it anyway. J

Now back to the post…

In a couple of my earlier posts, I provided insight into who I am and my thoughts on my life.  For this post, I would like to talk about why that is important to me.  Hopefully, I can wrap it back around to the title of this post. 

Regardless of our desire to “stay out of other people’s business”, we are in it every time we open ours mouths to discuss someone else.  In these conversations, I always try to be fair in my commentary and consider the person at hand (this piece requires me knowing that person).  I try to avoid negativity and provide a different perspective.  I do this because NO ONE and I mean NO ONE truly knows the next person’s situation.  The only thing we ever know is what we are told.  In many cases, what you are told is the version that people want to share.  Case in point, my post about myself, while intimate, didn’t provide you details around the negative things that took over my childhood.  In fact, I really started in high school.  Were any of the things I shared a lie?  No, I simply skipped over the part of my life that was hardest for me.

We often hear things like, “you don’t know me”, “you don’t know what I have been through” or “you don’t know that person’s situation”.  The reason we don’t know those things is not always that the person doesn’t want to share.  Sometimes, we aren’t listening or asking the right questions or even ready for the person’s truth.  In order to help anyone, you have to understand the issue.  Sometime, we have made assumptions about their situation without even talking to them.  That understanding can only come from the source; are you willing to go directly to the source? Are you ready to hear what someone else has to say?

If the ability to impact others positively exists, use it wisely and with the intent of improving the situation.  Influence is powerful.  Many people desire to have someone that understands their situation and cares enough to listen, be that person for someone.

*Note: This is a totally selfless act.  Your actions and intentions in this situation cannot be about YOU!*