Thought for the Week

Timothy D. Stein, MFT, CSAT

July 14, 2014

“People aren’t either wicked or noble.  They’re like chef’s salads, with good things and bad things chopped and mixed together in a vinaigrette of confusion and conflict.” –Lemony Snicket

When we start to judge people as good or bad, we miss the point.  Everyone has the capacity for kind behaviors just like everyone has the capacity for cruel behaviors.  We are not black or white, good or bad, kind or cruel.  We are all of those things at once.  When we accept this, we can start to see, interact with, and hold appropriate boundaries with the whole person, not just the fantasy (all good or all bad) that we created of them.

Am I viewing others as one dimensional?  Am I viewing myself as one dimensional?  What would change if I opened myself up to the multifaceted reality of myself and others?