Maybe It's Time

A lot of times, I don’t think we give it much thought how our actions might make someone else feel.

I’d hate to think that something I consistently do, bothers someone else that I love. And it can be so easy to get defensive about our actions, but in reality, maybe we just didn’t ‘think’ enough about what we were doing.

For example, maybe we kept up a friendship with someone who really, really hurt someone else in our family.  Maybe we talk a lot about a certain child, or grandchild.  Maybe we give things to a certain someone in our family, without consulting someone else who may need or want a cherished heirloom?

Maybe… just maybe…. We alienate individuals that we work with. 

All of these scenarios are common. And all of them, can easily include hurt feelings.

Every example, can have a pro and a con argument to it. And every example, can have ‘loopholes’ or reasons why something is played out the way it is played out. Maybe you HAVE invited someone over for years, and they refused or were difficult in the planning. Maybe you HAVE tried to give someone things you thought were special and they disappeared.

I get it. I do.

And for those ‘loophole’ reasons? I probably would agree.  Sometimes, people don’t see the chances that were given them. They only see the ones that weren’t - long after, the cord was broken.

And sometimes, you have to love people from afar. You have to put in place boundaries to protect your own heart.

So do that. Please do that.  Don’t keep wearing yourself out for someone who doesn’t care about your emotional investment into them. Yes - even if it’s family. (Tweet this)

But other times? Other times, we just forgot to realize or think about how someone might feel. And maybe it’s time we do.

Maybe it’s time that we think about what the other ‘cousins’ think when grandma and grandpa spend all their time with just one set. Maybe it’s time that we consider prioritizing someone who never speaks up for themselves, about never being invited, or included.

Maybe it’s time to start thinking about that broken relationship, and how we have conducted ourselves with people involved.

We can’t please everyone with our actions. And I’m not saying we should. But I am saying that maybe there are people who are precious to us, that we are consistently hurting - without meaning to.

And maybe we need to repair a little bit of damage done to those.