A friend of mine once posted that we must accept that we are the toxic persons in someone else’s story. This is a hard pill to swallow. It is a truth that we all must face. The simple reason is that we are all flawed people.  We are flawed people who hurt people.

From celebrities to paupers, we hurt. We all have issues to deal with. We all have been shaped by various experiences, whether indirectly or directly. Traumas and moments of pleasure can seep into our subconscious.  Our perspectives then change for better or worse. We end up either hurting people or cause people to heal based on these experiences. We choose what path we want to take. Unfortunately, we do not always choose well.

Our pride and unwillingness to see those flaws in ourselves can taint our relationships, even views of ourselves. We sometimes refuse to change our attitudes and mindsets. This makes situations worse. We refuse to relent. We refuse to talk it out. We are not open and honest about the issue at hand. We are not even honest to ourselves and about ourselves. Therefore, hate wins.

We all need to bear in mind that we are not above reproach. We are not perfect. We are a work in progress. Every bit of thought process that is harmful to us and others will have to be unlearnt through intentional efforts and time. We are all humans who need to be kind to each other. All are deserving of grace.

When we have hurt persons, we need to be humble enough to apologize. We need to man up / woman up and say sorry when we are instigators, whether intentionally or otherwise. When we are wrong, we are wrong. There should be no beating around the bush. Apologizing might hurt because our egos have been bruised. However, this stance strengthens us and improves our relationships. Once we say sorry, we must refrain from engaging in actions and / or saying words that hurt others in the first place.

Love and forgiveness are still viable options when the society tells us to hurt those who hurt us. If we can become positive examples by changing our toxicity levels to live at peace with others, let us do that. The world is in too much pain. We need some semblance of redemption.