You know what sucks? A few days ago I was hit with the idea that, to someone somewhere, I’m the bad guy. Somebody has, or will, see me as a negative force in their life. No matter what I try to do or say, I will be the antagonist to their hero journey.
Admittedly, that might be a lot to process. It can be heavy and taxing emotionally. Let me just tell you now, don’t let it bother you. Don’t take on that person’s idea of you as your own. It’s not your job to make them like you, it’s your job to stop and ask yourself, “Did I stay true to who I was while I crossed their path? Did I do the absolute best I could in the situation?”
“Through it all, was my intention to do good always prevalent?”
Your only responsibility is to understand yourself in all stages of life.
Because just as it’s inevitable to at sometime or another be the “bad guy” to someone who you’re most likely never going to fully know, there was someone who was the exact same type of character in your life. Maybe it was some one close, like a friend of family member. Or maybe it was someone who cut you off in traffic, who stole your identity, or spoke up to you personally about how your rights as a person due to your ethnicity or sexual orientation or religion aren’t “necessary”.
At one point or another, we’re all meant to play the asshole to someone else. It is here, in this shaky piece of reminiscence, where our awareness expands in depth.
To become aware of our part in being the negative to someone’s positive, is divine. Because in that one moment, the entirety of life is laid out before us even if only momentarily. Most may not even be able to fathom what it is they’re seeing or being granted; they’re seeing through the mirror of life: infinitely reflective, unknowingly beautiful, simplistically true.
It’s in this mirror where we can truly see ourselves. To see our self, and the self of others, intertwined in the play of life like musical notes in a song. Somehow so different yet, placed together in the most amazing way to create this whole little thing of life that seems to be the grand scheme of things.
Not every note in a symphony was meant to get along or be played side by side, but sometimes they collide and it’s those moments that help the beauty of the whole song become better admired.
Maybe, in your misunderstood expression of being yourself, becoming the asshole to someone unintentionally helps them make that little extra effort in the day to add beauty to someone else’s life.
We establish balance in life simply by being our most honorable and authentic selves.
