The lessons of experience often edit out the pain. We can talk about setbacks and frustrations, mistakes and disasters, and yet seldom do those accounts mention humiliations, betrayals, and the chilling sense that this is only happening to you.
In a way, that's a shame because in our effort to avoid disheartening someone we may inadvertently make the path seem easier than it is. Oh, did I fail to mention the boulders? Did I leave out the monsters? How could I have forgotten the hospital and the surgeries?
For every person who exaggerates the challenges they've overcome, I suspect there are thousands who understate them. When someone opens up to you about certain hard points in life, assume that it was worse.
It probably was.
[Photograph by Christopher Sardegna at Unsplash]
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