don't judge before you understand

hey -

there’s a saying that goes “learn from others’ mistakes”

and we’re quick to judge people for their shortcomings.

why they didn’t do this? how could they fail? why couldn’t they just do better? get over it? why did they do that?

it’s not that easy. it’s never that easy.

looking in from the outside, it’s easy to critique. it’s only until you go through the motions yourself when you understand.

like for example, wrestling looked like a sport i thought i’d completely dominate because it looked ‘simple’ and i had built a fairly athletic physique at the time.

but when it was only until i started actually competing when i realized, ‘holy shit, this isn’t a joke’. it was truly humbling.

those looking in from the outside will never understand feeling the nerves of competition, fighting the voice in your head while you’re trying to slam your opponent into the ground, the taste of blood in your mouth, the burning feeling in your lungs.

you’ll never truly know what it’s like until you’re in the game yourself.

so as much as you can learn from others’ mistakes, it’s hard to instill lessons into a mindset that has yet to be exposed to such environments where those lessons prove to be useful.

we fail to fully recognize the responsibilities and the pressures of being a student, athlete, mother, father, worker, caretaker.

we don’t know.

point is, aim more to understand rather than judge.

one gives you clarity, the other makes you bitter.

the more we understand, the more connected we become to others.

see you then.

• Ethan