Someone Else's Shoes

Someone has been hurting me.  I've tried wrapping my head around it and spent time analyzing it. I have asked myself what's wrong with me to be treated this way. 

Then I decided to put myself in this person's shoes and step out of mine.  I do this almost every day. I like to see how people feel, that way I can be a better and more caring person. What I have found though is that I don't like how I look in some peoples' shoes. If I treated people the way some people treat me, I'd want to beat my own ass. 

You see, I'm harder on myself than I am on other people. It's just how I am. I cut people slack, make excuses for them, forgive them over and over and over again....meanwhile, I never do the same for myself. Not only do I not do the same for myself, I am very good at enabling people to treat me like garbage.  But when I visualize MYSELF in a person's shoes and I am doing horrible things to someone, I am capable of seeing that it's unacceptable to treat me the way they are treating me. When I put on the shoes of someone who has hurt me and mistreated me, I'm an ugly person. I wouldn't hang out with me.  I wouldn't expect anyone to love me unconditionally, forgive me over and over and over, make excuses for me.....but I do it all the time for people. 

Putting yourself in someone's shoes is important. You never realize how much you've hurt someone unless you get into their skin.  You never realize what an impact your actions may have had on another human being unless you imagine what they may have felt. And sometimes, like me, you may come to realize that you're worth more than you'd thought. 

I will go to bat for anyone I love. I should probably do the same for myself when someone is treating me poorly.  Sometimes I think it would be easier to be a jerk than feeling something for everyone, but I look better in shoes that fit me.