When you interact with another person, you're interacting with yourself. That friend, family member, spouse, coworker, or even stranger, is really just you - the same you inside - but living a different life.
You, me, him, her, they, them - we're all the same being underneath. So go out and treat other people as if they're you, because they are.
I'm not talking about their thoughts, their personality, their behaviors, their choices, their path that led them to where they are. I'm talking about the essence beneath all of that - the one thing that if you took away, they wouldn't be there.
Is that one thing for them not the same as it is for you? Do we all not share that same essence, that same underlying being within?
The next time you interact with someone, remember that they're the same being in there, trying to get by, just trying to be okay.
They've gone about trying to be okay in a very different way than you - at least on the surface - but underneath, they're doing the same things.
They're scratching their itches, going after their desires, running from their pains. The itches might look different, the desires might seem strange, and the pains might not be the same - but the very act of what they're doing is the exact same thing you, me, and everyone else in this world is doing.
We're all in here, in this human experience, just trying to navigate and be okay.
So give yourself a break. Use the differences as reasons to celebrate, not discriminate. Start by acknowledging that we're one and the same, and then from there, celebrate all the differences on the surface. The quirks, the uniqueness, the annoyances, the pleasure - everything. That's all a bonus, the icing on the cake. The important part is already there, it's already within you, me, and everyone.
Live with substance!
Gabe Orlowitz
