Moccasins

Life has recently allowed me to walk in the moccasins of other men; to see what those I thought I knew are really going through. It revealed that under the fluff of monotonous and autonomous tasks we perform to get through life (packing lunches, brushing our teeth, driving, clocking in, clocking out, folding the same clothes we folded the week before) there are serious and very real burdens that all of us are carrying. Some carry them openly begging for aid, some carry them secretly hoping no one will know, some carry them half-concealed not sure what do to with the weight. There is a quote that floats around the internet that is sometimes attributed to Plato, other times to Ian MacLaren:

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.

To those carrying openly: I will help you.

To those carrying secretly: You will make it.

To the rest of us: Be nice to everyone. No one has it easy. If you only knew.

"If we could read the secret history of our enemies we would find in each person's story enough suffering and sorrow there to disarm all hostilities." -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow