Being involved in Residence Life as a Resident Assistant has opened my eyes soo much and has truly taught me some amazing life lessons that I will never forget. I think the most important lesson being: perception. I have come to understand that everyone's life experiences are different, and we are onlly glimpsing a snapshot of the lives of those around us, and in turn, they are only witnessing a snapshot of our own lives. The important lesson to take from this bit of information is that every single person around us has their own mountain to climb, their own struggles. And every single person thinks that their mountains are the biggest steepest mountains of anyone's.
It is impossible for us to understand completely where anyone is coming from, what anyone has expereinced. It is impossible for us to comprehend how much pain one has had to live through, or sorrow, or joy, or struggles, or pure bliss. And that is why the cliche is so true: Never judge a book by it's cover.
You can't tell what one has experienced by talking to them, so there is for dang sure no possible way to tell what one has experienced simply by looking at them. You have to really get to know a person to even begin to know their mountains in their life, and I promise you, they have mountains. Even if they do a great job at hiding them, they are still there. Do something nice for everyone you can. Even if it's something simple like holding the door open into a shop, or buying the coffee of the person behind you in line at Starbucks, or helping someone collect the change they dropped all over the floor. The smallest things can make the biggest difference to someone, especially someone having a hard day, or week, or maybe in a life. And you will never know how hard of a time someone is having, so be nice to everyone. It will make a difference not only in the other person's life, but your own as well.
I think it's so important to get to know everyone who's path crosses your own. Even if your paths in life cross for only a brief moment in the grand scheme of things. You could end up making an impact on their life, or better yet, they could end up making an impact on your own. Or maybe it could go exactly the opposite. Maybe instead of a positive experience, the crossing of your paths could end up being a negative. Maybe the experience will hurt you. But then it's up to you to turn that experience into a positive one. It's up to you to make it an experience that helps you, instead of having the experience become another mountain you have to climb.
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