Waking Up...Again

We are all doing the best we can. No, really, WE ARE ALL DOING THE BEST WE CAN.

         - Brene Brown  from Rising Greatly

                        – The Reckoning. The Rumble. The Revolution.

 No big surprise, as author Brene Brown orally read her book, Rising Greatly – The Reckoning. The Rumble. The Revolution.  I’ve heard the phrase one hundred times before in my quest to understand myself and become a more improved version.  Contemplating it repeatedly, I finally became a true believer.  Yet this morning, as I treaded my final mile and half, I felt sick to my stomach and the tears ran down my face, as I listened to Brene recite her story.

My telling reaction surprised me as I struggled to focus on the words I was hearing, rather than go to my own story.  Knowing that I needed to attend to my emotions but wanting to hear the outcome of hers, I set them aside momentarily so that I could understand her process, and apply it to whatever was erupting in my stomach.  Brene was explaining a time in her life when she had gone against her intuition and desires, to do something she didn’t want to do because she thought she should.  From the beginning her attitude wasn’t the best as she traveled to another city, and hesitantly shared a hotel room with another presenter she did not know.  To make a long story short, she didn’t have a good experience and harshly judged others based on the actions she observed.  She shared the process she went through as she concluded some amazing lessons such as fully agreeing that we are all doing the best we can.  This doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t be held accountable, but that we hold them accountable with “humanity”.  She also went on to acknowledge that her seemingly negative reactions were all her own stuff, like not setting boundaries and staying in her integrity and then projecting upon others through judgement and self-righteousness.

It hit me hard!  While I always said I believed that we are all doing the best we can, I wasn’t necessarily living this belief in all aspects of my life – actually, in some of the most important areas of my life.  A couple of my most frustrating life moments involve me making up a story about why someone behaves in a certain way.  My mind is always trying to make sense of someone else’s words or actions.  Truly, if I chose to perceive that everyone is doing the best they can, where they are and with what they know and have experienced, I would have more compassion towards them, and think about them with more “humanity”.

Perhaps the most powerful part of this lesson was when she shared that fully understanding and believing this concept allows us to more readily see that some people may need more support for the job, or they may need to be transferred to another position where they can be more productive, or they may not be suited for the job at all.  Or for your home, your friendship or your life.   Being awakened is powerful. Sickening. Freaking Amazing!   - Diana