Wear My Shoes

This poem came to me today as I pondered the fact that sometimes we (I include myself here) are so quick to judge, to deem another persons feelings and thoughts as invalid or ridiculous. But the truth is, we haven't lived that persons life. We don't know where they're coming from. We can't possibly know how they feel. And, I submit that we all want our feelings to be taken seriously. Am I right? Answer that the next time you get angry or hurt and someone just brushes you off. Yeah, that's what I thought.

We may even have had something similar happen to us that would make us think that we can relate, but even then our feelings and reactions to similar things are going to be totally different. I'm thinking of a situation a few years back in my own family that I myself judged a bit too quickly. Even though I totally disagreed with that person's feelings and what was causing them, right or wrong, those feelings were/are real to them. It would probably do us all some good to at least try to see things from the other person's perspective. And if we can't then at least don't dismiss their feelings as unfounded...

Thanks for reading.

 Wear My Shoes

Have you been down the roads that I've traveled?
Have you been in the places I've lodged?
Are you familiar with all of the road blocks,
and the potholes in life that I've dodged?

Can you say that you really do know me,
that you relate to the trials I have faced?
All the secret hurts and the sorrows, of my life
and the scars in their place?

Not one soul can expound on my story,
every person's tale is their own.
So my request to you, friend, is this simple:
Til you've walked in my shoes, don't throw stones.

Written by Caroline 2-7-12