Misunderstood

Being misunderstood is a big part of our lives. We spend our entire lifetime trying to be understood and failing. I mean, is there really someone out there who really understands us? I used to think it was easy to understand me. I like to think I'm a very straightforward person. Ask me a question, and I'll give you an answer.

That was until I started to realize that my answers usually began with, "Well, that really depends..."

Being understood completely is impossible. We can understand bits and pieces of another person, but it simply isn't possible to understand a person in his or her entirety. No matter how hard we try, we just can't. We don't go through the same experiences. We don't feel the same feelings. We don't even have the same ways of interpreting situations. Essentially, we can't understand another person entirely just because we aren't them. There's no getting around it.

What's worse is that we go on this mission to understand people and be understood before we even understand ourselves. I have spent my entire lifetime thinking I'm done surprising myself, but then I'll go off and do something that doesn't make any sense. I don't even understand myself. How can I possibly attempt to understand another person or expect someone to understand me? It's impossible!

The most difficult part of all this, though, is not just accepting it, but embracing it. For some reason, the human mind is inexplicably attracted to mystery. We inevitably want to know what we don't know. Recently, I discovered the mystery of my own existence. That's right, kids, embrace being misunderstood, because the day you are completely understood is the day that you are no longer a unique person. And it's not even that you've become like everyone else and lost your sense of identity--you've lost something that makes you inherently human. And that, my friend, is a very scary thing to wish for.

So try to think about that next time you're begging to be understood by someone. No one is even remotely understood, and that's part of what makes you you. Next time you're wishing for someone to understand you, remember that you're intrinsic identity lies in the fact that there are things about you that no one will really understand. Turn that into a source of strength, because that something that no one understands is yours. And remember that about the people who are around you every day. There are things you will never understand about them, and that is what makes them them. Isn't that just amazing? That we are all so incredibly complex that we can't understand each other, and yet, here we are, living in community, understanding that none of us are the same! If that doesn't shock and amaze you, you are a dog, and ought to be put outside and fed kibble for the rest of your life. Revel in the incredibility of human kind. It's amazing.