We feel alone in our struggles— but everyone else feels the same way
Most of our struggles are lonely. No one, apart from Hashem, can really enter the recesses of our minds or hearts to fully comprehend our experiences.
Family, friends, and trusted counselors can listen and try to relate our stories to their own. “You had a falling out with your sister-in-law? That’s rough! I have some troubles with one of mine as well.” Or, if we haven’t had troubles with a sister-in-law, then we’ll stretch a little further to recall the troubles we had with someone at some point in our life.
But honestly, even if we did have troubles with someone, what would that experience really have in common with your troubles with your sister-in-law? Did our hurt feel like your hurt? No.
Our entire life experience has been different from yours: Our developmental history, our relationship history, our school and social experiences — absolutely everything — has been different. Therefore, even if we happen to share the same broad story line, we come to those events from very different vantage points. And that’s not even taking into account our inherent personality and brain differences.
Create a free account to keep reading.
