Intention
Last night in class we had a lesson about anger.
One thing that came up is the idea that our intention behind our actions is more important than the action itself. For example, a person can, out of compassion and care, give a few dollars to a homeless shelter while someone else with a lot of money can donate 10,000 dollars so their name can be all over and they can be looked at as a great, giving person. I started to think about intention with many things I do. I tried to imagine the intention of what some people have done in my life, things that really hurt me. You really can’t know what someone else’s intentions are. They may have a very well meaning intention, but the action can feel hurtful to some.
I think it is interesting how we all interpret the world in different ways, and yet assume we all see it the same way. It makes a lot of things very challenging. When I think about intention like this, I realize it is very difficult to judge people for what they do.
I agree with this. I have found myself assuming people intended to hurt me, when that’s not the case at all (or that someone was hurt by my actions when I meant nothing but good). I think it is rare that people intentionally hurt each other, more often, it is unintentional. If you give people the benefit of the doubt, just assume that they didn’t mean to, it’s MUCH easier to move beyond the pain.
This just helped me write a paper, so many thanks to you! I had a bunch to say on this subject, but must away to class now, ta-ta!