I’ve been thinking a lot about hindsight, how I interpreted actions and words of others in the moment, and what I think now.
It’s astonishing, isn’t it, what a bit of distance, time, and self-reflection can do to change our minds? I’ve noticed this most prominently in my personal life, but it occurs in my professional life, too. And I’m trying not to beat myself up about it. I interpreted those events and words from the place I was then; I’m in a very different place now. And I’m glad I am. Now, the question for me is whether I share those insights (ha) with those whose words and actions I misinterpreted.
Right now I’m leaning towards yes. That I need to acknowledge that I jumped to conclusions, or saw the other person’s actions through what was then a very blurry and distorted lens. I don’t know how that will be received, but I think it’s needed for me to move on from what was and into what will be.
I’ve always assumed that I’m “done” growing and learning and figuring things out. Now, at (age I prefer not to write because holy cow, I cannot be that old!) I’ve realized that yeah, I don’t know anything. This learning, in my personal life and professional life? It never ends. And that’s the beauty of it all. If life were static – if I were static – man, wouldn’t that be boring? Sometimes, yes, I just wish things would just stay as they were. But that means that I’m not living, not changing, not growing, not remaining curious and enthralled about this world we live in. I guess I’d rather take the uncertainty and the fun that goes with it, than think I know everything.
The most beautiful and most profound emotion we can experience is the sensation of the mysterious. ~Albert Einstein