Looking Into Instead of Just At

We live in a time when we are working hard to ‘see’ people for who they are not just what they look like. These words reminds us of that very well:

Look into people, as well as at them

-Lord Chesterfield

I spoke with women today who had very different challenges and experiences in life, all of which made them unique individuals. Yet they were experiencing the same internal strife. How do I move forward? How do I find what I really want to do in life? And who can I talk to about all that is swirling around in my head?

No matter their outer appearance, people have the same wants, needs and desires no matter their race or culture. People want to be loved, appreciated, recognized for their skills and talents, and they may need help or encouragement to find those skills and talents. People love their children, love their families, want to provide a healthy, happy life for those they love, and they themselves want to be happy as well. When we see someone who looks different than us, lives in a part of town where we are not comfortable going, when they speak a different tongue or wear different clothes than us…we hesitate. Those differences make us think, question, or even emit emotions we do not feel when we are in a place we know.

I learned people are people. They all love their grandmothers and want to respect their elders. They want to hug their Mom when they are scared, and usually have a friend or family member in which they confide when they are low. People are not that different, not on the inside. It is our outer shell that makes people make assumptions about who we are, what we want, and what we are doing in a specific place. To work better with people we need to unlearn the fear, concern and belief we have acquired from life. We need to remember that looking into people should be our first thought instead of only looking at them.

Take time today to look into people, not just at them. By building that habit within ourselves we may well be the recipient of someone doing the same for us. And wouldn’t the world be a better place if we all took the time to look into people instead of just at people.