Do You Know Where Your Keys Are?
One Thanksgiving a few years back, we were in New York on a family vacation when I noticed this message board next door to our hotel caught my eye, "People can only drive you crazy if you give them the keys." I chuckled with delight. Funny, right? Of course I didn't immediately think of myself, but after rifling through a few people in my mind's eye, I eventually made my way back to me. Way easier to imagine the person who constantly gives away their keys, right?
Associating the quote with another person is natural quirk, it's the way we humans are wired. However, after ten years of listening to and writing other peoples (as well as my own) stories I'm a firm believer the universe puts signs in our path for us to pay attention. Clearly, I was the one who noticed the message first for a reason.
But what if you took that question and used it as a lens to look at your own life? Then what? It's not quite as humorous when you realize the quote isn't about other people... it's about you.
You see, quotes like these are an opportunity to look at our collective human flaws. When you think a bold quote like this one is about someone else, while it may be, dismissing the quote as someone else's shortcoming is a missed opportunity to own and grow from your personal flaws. And when we miss an opportunity for our own potential growth we stay stuck.
As humans, we reveal a great deal of our personal psychology by the quotes we choose and the stories we share. What quotes or stories have crossed your path that you, at first, thought were meant for someone else until you realized they were meant for you? Please share!
