If We Only Understood

A lesson I relearned recently is that we just dont understand other people. More important than to know this information, we must live it. And no, im not telling you treat people nicely now, because you dont know anything about them, im telling you to treat yourself nicely because you dont understand their feelings. Confused?
How well do we really know ourselves? There are tons of things I wouldnt want people to know about me. I have really terrible habbits, I'm incredibly selfish, I may behave - but definatly not instinctively. If people really knew our instincts? But thats the thing, only I know myself. None of you know me. If I kill or rape, I may be doing it out of the goodness of my heart, because you dont know what I'm capable of. Comforting, eh?
On a light example, lets look at things this way. Lets say you were at a proffessional business office. Youre working on an important business project, and you have AOL instant messenger open, on your special business related screen name. The CFO of the company you are working for looks over your shoulder, as you are about to show him an issue you are having with the accounting. All of a sudden, your neice's best friend sends you an instant message: "Guess who's coming to town?!" - needless to say, youre embarassed. Why? You werent proffesional. But that bloke standing behind you should realize, as should you, that he too has a personal life, and that we all have hidden emotions and desires.
But its important for us to incorporate this philosophy into our daily thoughts. We must realize that we control our own emotions. A rainy day gets you down? Your dishwasher broke, so youre upset? Then you are a slave to chance. If we realize our ultimate goals, then we should be sad or happy because of our successes and failures, not because of what chance throws at us. Thats just illogical. More extremely, but equally logical, one cannot let someone else upset them. Are you feeling mad that someone did something they shouldnt have? Sad because you have been let down? YOU are in control, YOU must realize that people have their own tests, that they are in their own worlds, that we cannot understand them, and thus we cannot judge, or be disappointed. The only world that we can concern ourselves, and let affect our emotions, is our own selves.
Yoda himself said it. If you are afraid of losing someone, then the best way to deal with that fear is to let go. One cannot let someone or something else become a part of him, because we just dont have control over things that our outside of ourselves. It is therefore illogical to invest our emotions in it. Thats not to say that we should become robots, on the contrary, we can be disappointed in our family or friends, we can love as well. But we shouldnt get hurt or consumed with these emotions. We have the power to control ourselves.
Next time you get hurt, brood over this message. It will make you feel strong, and powerful - that you are in control, and that you are free of chance and others. It will clear your mind to properly deal with the situation, to express your emotion to those that hurt you, in a sensible and productive matter. It will calm your anger, and assuage your frustration. After all, when its all up to you, why would you let yourself be miserable?