more on unintentional hurting

I have some friends who have been in counseling. One of the things they brought home was this: remember that usually, most of the time, the people around you are not intentionally trying to hurt you. It's just a misunderstanding.

Now yes, there are people in the world who will intentionally hurt you, and if you are living with someone like that, then you might want to consider moving on.

But, in most families, it is not the intent of the people that we live with to hurt us. Our preconceived notions of self protection often react with what people are doing, and we perceive it as hurt. But, when our presuppositions about the people around us becomes positive then we can begin to interpret the hurt we feel as inadvertent instead of intentional.

Most likely, the people around you are not intentionally trying to hurt you.   I hope this is the case.  I don't want anyone to be in the business of intentionally hurting others.   

This strikes at the heart of the concept of seeing the good.  So, if someone is not trying to hurt you and they are not trying to hurt me, then maybe we should not react so strongly.  Maybe we can talk things through with them and move away from our natural inclination to be hurt.

Most likely, the people around you are not trying to hurt you.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.