May 16, 2026- All about me

It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.

~William Blake

My mind likes to tell me that everything is about me. Every interaction, every comment, every way that someone treats me – it is all about me. My perspective is the only one I have constant access to, so I view everything around me through my own lens. I’m human. That’s what we do.

When I actually take a step back, how many of the times that the best version of me failed to show up were truly about anyone but me? Why did I react the way I did? That was my choice, regardless of what the other person said or did. Why didn’t I give more grace, display, more patience, create a larger space between stimulus and response?

When someone else does us wrong, can’t we consider the fact that it might not be about us? Can’t we understand that the other person has a complex, nuanced life that we can’t even pretend to fully understand, and that this is a moment in which they may not have the capacity to do better?

It is easier to forgive an enemy because we don’t hold them up to the same expectations as our friends. This makes the injury hurt more when it comes from someone we don’t expect to mistreat us. Can we forgive our friends for being human? We do not have to be a doormat, but we can be forgiving. Can we extend that forgiveness to ourselves?