Giving space to other voices

I am not sure at what age we are more likely to accept that we are not always right. I believe that it depends on each person, story, background, or life. However, I believe that once that realization comes, it really helps us to live more free from our thoughts.

This week I spent a lot of time thinking about my beliefs and values. It is becoming a weekly practice and I really enjoy it. But this week, I stumble across the memory of closing myself when it came to understanding the perspective of others.

I remember that it was 10 years old when I could first understand that each person had a different perspective of life. It was a realization that made me question everything about my reality. And it was the first time that I knew I didn’t have all the answers.

I must accept that it was a bit frightening not to feel secure in the realms of my knowledge. But it was for sure something I needed to go through to understand and be more empathetic with others.

The past year was especially challenging because of this. I met many more people and I was exposed to many more ideas. That even some were really contrary to each other. I believe that I handle the situation quite fine for some time but eventually, it was too much for me to handle.

I asked myself if there was a reason that made this feeling harder to experience. And after few days, I understood that it was linked to the fear of questioning the reality I am feeling quite happy with, right now. It was the feeling of questioning the reality you love because maybe there was something that you didn’t consider before. And that was really scary to me.

I could talk to some friends and colleagues about this matter. And I believe that this fear was probably the projection of an experience before that was bad to me.

But the biggest difference between that time and now is that now I have the tools to take care of my mental health and be more logical about the life I am living.

So even if I meet people who have a completely different understanding of my reality, I am confident that I will be able to handle this. Not because I no longer feel afraid but because now I know that my world is something I built and something that will change. My world is now, something that welcomes the opinions of others because I know that the more you connect to other people, the easier it is to also know yourself more. As the view after meeting someone, is much wider than before.

And if voices from other people that challenge my reality come in my way now, I will be able to embrace them, use them, or avoiding them because I know myself more than ever before.