We Judge What We Don't Understand
There’s a stigma that comes with being incarcerated. There’s an even bigger one that comes with being a felon. And honestly, I think people in recovery experience something similar. Say the words felon or addict or recovering addict , and sometimes the rest of the story doesn't matter anymore. People make assumptions. They must be dangerous. They can't be trusted. They made their choices. They'll probably go back to their old ways. Maybe. But sometimes those assumptions keep us from seeing the person standing in front of us. Because the truth is, most of us judge what we don't understand. We see the conviction, but not everything that happened before it. We see the addiction, but not the pain someone was trying to numb. We see the relapse, but not the fight it took to get sober in the first place. We see the worst decision, but not the years of someone's life that came before it... or the years that could come after it. I'm not saying people shouldn't...