Hatred of others suppresses the self. I’ve fallen victim to this problem. Keeping my attention squarely set on their faults has successfully blinded me to my own. Yet, like everyone else, I have distracted myself from my ‘self‘ by my hatred of them.

My refusals to see myself is easily spotted in my hatred of what others have done. But what about those times when I’m merely uncomfortable with something? What about those times I’ve cussed a driver for nearly hitting me while crossing the street? Or how about frustrations with how another person retells what I said but in fashions that misrepresent me?

I agree that my feelings were justified. In some fashion, I had been treated wrongly. What I have found uncomfortable was realizing that my complaints too often had served as a distraction. By whining about the last time I’d nearly had my foot run over by a driver insisting on not waiting for me, I had also been trying  to keep people at a distance from my simple wrongs. Using that true wrong as a means to hide my own wrongs is a subtle but true thing we all do.

Suppression of ourselves grows out of our refusals to know humility by progressively  owning our own faults without shame. This simple social action successfully hides facets of ourselves from ourselves.

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