I think the best way for me to explain what I mean by this is through an example...
Imagine a group of people are gathered in a meeting room. Someone stands and holds up a can of Coca Cola and asks everyone in the room to write down the first 3 descriptors that pop into their minds when they look at it.
When members of the group stand up to share their responses, you may hear things like…
1. Red
2. Aluminum
3. Polar bears
But you also may hear things like…
1. Diabetes
2. Obesity
3. Chemicals
Everyone is looking at the same can of Coke, but the way they describe it varies greatly depending on their own personal experiences and knowledge. Neither one of them are wrong, their truths are just different.
Our personal truths seem so right and so obvious to us because our own exposure, history and experiences are what have shaped them. It is the same way for everyone else in the world.
When your truth is truly in conflict with someone else’s truth, you will never come to a resolution through argument. It is only by genuinely taking the time to learn about other’s experiences and perspectives that the gap can be bridged.
Keep this in mind the next time you view someone else’s actions as so blatantly wrong that decide to pass judgement on them. There is always more to story for you to learn.
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