Right now, what is it like to be on the other side of me?

It’s a question we should ask ourselves often. And not just when we’re at our best. In our grumpy times, our overacting moments, our misjudgments: what is it like to be on the other side and receive what we are spewing?

Perhaps it would calm us down, humble us, cause us to slow down enough to explain what’s going on in our minds and hearts and better our interactions with others. Perhaps it would help us be patient and forgiving with others as we can relate to them in some way. Perhaps it would help us be more honest with ourselves and not compare someone’s glimpse of us to our best image of ourselves.

Perhaps we’d do a lot less rationalizing and a lot more listening, waiting, reflecting, and responding with generous compassion.