We Understand But Not Quite

Even at our most similar, we’re different.

There’ll always be things about me that you can’t wrap your head around, and some about you that I can’t.

Humans will always have the capacity to surprise one another. Sometimes, we even surprise our own self.

Agreement is a rarity, contradiction is commonplace.

The dissonance between us is what’s normal, harmony is the anomaly.

But away from the everyday incidents that underline our differences and looking broadly at the massive collective that we are, you’ll find a common thread of sameness.

Our struggles are varied but largely the same.

Our happiness is brought to life by a recurrent theme of similar things.

We hate for reasons that have been around for thousands of years.

Love, when it is love, makes us selfless, makes us cry, makes us ecstatic, makes us humble.

Dozens of feelings are felt by all of us just in different ways and at different times.

Our humanity is the only permanent thing about us.

So when you’re angry, tired, hurting, disappointed, joyful, hungry, needy, sad and all the other emotions, I understand.

And you understand when I am.

We all understand but just not quite.

Not quite because we always feel for one another but oftentimes we don’t know what we feel.

Or we don’t know how to express our feelings.

We sometimes come across as aloof or unconcerned not because we actually are but because life does get in the way of empathy.

We want to say things but we don’t say them quickly enough and the moment passes.

We try, heaven knows we do, and we can all use a little more patience with one another.

We can let people show us whom they are first instead of tacking a label on them right away.

We can be less judgemental, a lot less, remembering that we can’t always afford the things we criticise.

More kindness, more second chances and third ones, more regard for the boundaries we create to protect our sense of self.

We can do with more deliberate understanding, looking inward at our own dark spots before we cast a shadow on someone else.

It’s not that people don’t care, it’s that caring perfectly doesn’t exist, and to understand this is to accept the best that is offered without asking for more.