I believe that life is painful in so many ways for so many people. And pain affects people in different ways. People who live with emotional pain are or can be depressed or needy, ill or difficult to get along with. People with physical pain can be cranky or irritated.
Something that is hard for us to comprehend is that pain is subjective. We all have different ways of measuring and responding to pain.
We can’t measure pain because we are limited or confined to our perceptions. There is a ‘pain scale’ used in medicine to describe the level of pain a patient feels, yet my level 5 might be your level 2. What hurts me the most might not phase you.
If you wanna go deep for a minute, everything in life that we experience is limited by our perception. Regardless of how “open-minded” we seem, we can only comprehend based on our point of view. We can sympathize with another or empathize, but can we really feel as deeply (or shallow) as another?
We can relate to others, but unless we “walk in their shoes” (and put on their skin and entertain their thoughts) we cannot experience anything as they do.
Everything we experience is seen through our past. New opportunities are met with jaded points of view because of outcomes we’ve had. Think of how hard it is to change our routine or how much we lament changing jobs.
We might be disappointed with where we are, but we’re not sure about making a change. Just look at our track record: if it was that good, would we be having this discussion?
Don’t get me wrong. I do try to be open minded and I am an empath. I might feel the pain you describe, but I can only feel it as much as I can imagine you feel. And that is only as far as my experiences have shaped me.
All I’m saying is we all have so much baggage that we don’t unpack and put away; show a little kindness, especially when it’s not reciprocated.
OneFourZeroPM 
Is so funny how easy it is to let stuff go when you pray about it but other stuff you can’t let it go. It effects how you do things and how you relate to things as well. I think that’s a little off topic but reading this post made me think of that.
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I think it relates because the things you hold on to are the things that are personal…and what makes things personal…?…your past. Maybe it’s some deep rooted ‘flaw’ you have that is woven into your subconscious. Like something you were picked on about or something you didn’t like about someone else and you’re worried you’ll be just like them… This doesn’t have to be on a conscious level and often it isn’t. But I believe what you’ve said is along those same lines. We don’t realize we’re putting our spin on things until we’re called out for it.
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