Imagine everyone you meet carries an invisible chalkboard listing their hidden struggles: relationship problems, health crises, money stress. The exercise asks you to see people's actions as explanations, not excuses, rooted in what they're actually dealing with.
And one of the exercises is imagining that everybody, including those in your professional life, is walking around with this huge invisible chalkboard on their head. On that chalkboard is everything that they kind of hoped and want to share with you, or the things that they're struggling with but they're not actually saying. They're putting on the facade of fine, but meanwhile, they're struggling in their relationship. One of their kids is sick. They're struggling with their finances. Their parents have just been diagnosed with cancer. Just think about the recent family gathering for Christmas or for whatever season it might be that you went through. Do you actually know what's going on in people's head? And once you do, does it help you realize that their experiences are not excuses but explanations? Your experiences are not excuses for behaving badly but simply explanations of how you act and react to the world.
