Life Lessons
The Thing About Humans
We tend to forget
I once dated a man I didn’t care for. He was nice enough. He just wasn’t my cup of romantic tea.
The man told me I would never be happy unless I “ended up with a Jewish man.”
(Spoiler alert: The man who said this was Jewish.)
A month later, I learned he was dating someone Catholic.
How could a man give me (unsolicited) advice that he himself didn’t follow?
Easy: he’s human. Many a piece of advice given to another is rarely helpful.
Hypocritical Humans
The other day I was at my aunt’s house. Her daughter is home from college and lives on a steady diet of ramen noodles and fish. My aunt is a dedicated omnivore.
My aunt loves anything and everything that spawned from an animal.
My niece has declared herself a “pescatarian with a vegetarian focus.”
The number of eye rolls behind the other’s back as they navigated in the kitchen could earn a Guinness World Record.
Both love the other yet find their diet absurd.
“A diet of fish?! That can’t be healthy.”
“Eating anything that once had feathers or fur is disturbing.”
“Her body is missing essential fats and proteins — she’s ridiculous.”
“I can’t look at mom’s cooking without my arteries clogging. It’s gross.”
Why do we have a tendency to judge the choices of the people we love?
Because we’re…human. We are multi-faceted, spinning in our personal orbits.
We say one thing and do another.
We eat a diet of fish and chomp down on licorice made with animal fat (gelatin).
We judge another’s food choices while our own meat-rich one can easily weigh in morality court.
We Forget Our Compass
Being human means that sometimes we forget. Not just little things like dentist appointments and Zoom meetings. The big stuff. The stuff that can’t be measured.
We forget our North Star; we lose our way.
When we forget the wisdom residing within us, we become vulnerable to the fickle humans around us.
No one can give you insight, courage, or validation. Not really.
When another gives you wisdom, it’s only because you were ready to hear it.
The wisdom, the insight, the courage, the validation — they are always there inside of you.
The trouble arrives when we forget. When we look outside ourselves for answers that dwell within.
Our fellow humans are all too busy trying to find their own North Star. And theirs will look nothing like yours. And that’s more than okay.
That’s what makes this life interesting.
Revel in you, so you can enjoy others without depending on them for your light.
A shoutout to Chantal Christie Weiss for the empowering lesson she shares to help us remember our North Star: