Mom always told me I could be whatever I wanted to be when I grew up, within reason. I asked what she meant by within reason. She told me I asked a lot of questions for a garbage man.who else assumed, at first glance, that this man's mom said that to him in the distant past, when he was a child? ...until we read he was already, in fact, an adult who was a garbage man....
- Jack Handey
it goes to show how, when someone recounts something, we 'create' in our mind an assumption of things - when it took place, what it meant, etc. the assumptions are based on clues, yes - 'told me i could be whatever i wanted to be WHEN I GREW UP'.... but unless we've heard the full story, and taken the time to listen beyond our assumptions and understand from the other person's perspective - (that he was in fact told this by his mom when he was an adult, and reveals a whole lot about his relationship with his mom and what kind of nurture or lack thereof he was brought up with, and what is likely rattling around in his psyche these days) - we won't understand what really went on.... which is sad, and does not help with the relationship building process.
we can spend so much time defending our understanding of things we miss out on the other side of the story....
oh, the wise insights from a wise, wise man, jack handey....
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