People are People

People are people. I forget this more often than I care to admit. I catch myself seeing people as better than me or, in some cases, worse than me. I place unfair expectations on some people and almost no expectations on others. I put some people on a pedestal, while hardly noticing other people. 

{Note: I have been struggling with this blog and have rewritten it many times over the course of many weeks. A good friend of mine reminded me that “blogging is a great way to work things out for yourself”.  I know this is true for this blog… I had a need to write this one.Sadly, I know the concept I want to share, but I am having issues explaining it. It either comes off as preachy or just plain ridiculous. Hopefully, this final rewrite works. I completed this before all the unrest occurred, but I think the basic premise holds true, now more than ever. Remember, I write these to be helpful and I hope you understand that as you read this.}

I was sitting on a call the other day with a high titled executive and some of my peers. I was nervous that I would say something silly and be judged. I expected the executive to be more knowledgeable than me and just give me my marching orders, as they say.  During the call, the executive requested our input on the project and genuinely appreciated our thoughts. The executive admitted they had not thought of some things we mentioned. The executive had internet issues and dropped from the call for a bit.  The executive could not put their hands on some documents we were referring to. The executive seemed embarrassed and flustered with the issues.

I was reminded how human we all are. We value the input of others, especially if it is something we had not thought of. We are all embarrassed when we have issues or cannot find information we should have right in front of us. It made me realize that I had put that executive on a pedestal that was unfair and unrealistic. Because of the title, I somehow expected “perfection”.

I realized that I had forgotten that people are people. We all have the same human characteristics.  We all have: fears, emotions, joys, goals, good days, bad days, loves, hates, wins, losses, disappointments, challenges, mistakes, celebrations, etc.

It doesn’t matter what you do for a living or who you are. You may be a: parent, teacher, gas station attendant, executive, assistant, official, blue collar worker, older adult, boss, spiritual leader, cleaner, professional, politician, warehouse worker, leader, retail associate, ditch digger, housewife, etc. No one is immune from human emotions.

We all have feelings and doubts. We have good and bad days. We want to be loved, respected, admired and cared about. We want others to like us. We have all made mistakes and want to be forgiven for these mistakes. We want the ability to be recognized for a job well done. We want to have a lazy Sunday now and then. We all own that ugly t-shirt or sweater that we love and wear around the house when we think we won’t see anyone that day. We all have a “guilty-pleasure” show or book we enjoy and we all enjoy a great joke. We all do embarrassing things in public. We all want to enjoy life.

The older I get, the more I realize that my parents (sorry mom and dad), bosses, friends, family and co-workers are all human … just like me. They fret over saying the wrong thing. They want to receive that unexpected note from a friend or invitation to lunch. They enjoy a random compliment. They have bad hair days. They want to share a secret or be asked their opinion on something. They also occasionally want to be left alone.

I work hard to try and remember that everyone I deal with is a person (both in good and bad ways). I try to remember that they deserve to be treated respectfully. They deserve the benefit of the doubt since I don’t know what sort of day they are having.

I think it is important to remember that we are all JUST people - nothing more; nothing less. People are people.