I got these questions from Danielle’s blog Underland to Wonderland, where I came across a post in which she talked about the website Thought Questions and their 365 thought-provoking questions to ask yourself. My friends Katrin, Celeste and Jasmine have also been answering these questions, so be sure to go check out their blogs too!
Day 75: If you looked into the heart of your enemy, what do you think you would find that is different from what is in your own heart? I think this is such a difficult question to answer objectively, because we all like to think that we’re very different from our enemies and in truth we probably have more in common than we’d care to admit. I would say that in some cases perhaps my “enemies” do not have the same depth of empathy for other people and for animals. (For example, the fur industry would definitely count as an enemy to me!) And there are a lot of people I really clash with because they are very harsh toward other people who are struggling through life with homelessness, addiction, etc. I really try to have compassion for everyone, since you never know what the circumstances are that have landed them in this bad spot.
6 Comments
Arielle Thibodeaux
I once read that when we don’t like someone or have problems with someone it’s because they have the traits we don’t like in ourselves. So maybe, our enemy is like us.
Martha Woods
That’s an interesting way to think about it! Hmmm.
Katrin
Well said, we should all show more compassion and empathy. Unfortunately there are too many people with very little empathy…
Martha Woods
So true. People can really suck sometimes. :(
Pang Ly
I don’t think I have enemies at this point and if I did, they’re not doing a very good job at letting me know. In order for me to consider someone “enemy”, they would have to have done something pretty horrible and damaging to me or someone I deeply care about. Those kind of encounters are very rare to me.
Martha Woods
That’s a good thing, I think!