On Magnanimity
Most people are not out to hurt us.
It’s natural to be suspicious of people. To scan faces, tones, and gestures for signs of betrayal and discontent. To assume the worst before the worst ever happens. We’ve all done it- condemned someone silently for a careless remark, or written them off entirely because they came from a background we didn’t trust. It’s instinctual. The mind protects itself through judgment. But that same instinct that once kept us safe as we evolved now brings us so much anxiety.
The truth is that most people are not out to hurt us. They’re simply caught up in their own demons- tired, distracted, sometimes clumsy in how they express themselves. You know they’ve been good people in the past. Yet we turn their mistakes into character assassinations. We say, I knew it, and close the door. What if, instead, we left it open just a little longer? What if we watched, waited, and allowed them a chance to show who they really are? Often, what we take as disrespect is …
