There is more to life than just your side of the story

My drink is empty. If there was ice in my glass, I’m sure it would’ve melted by now, but I’m a man, and I drink my whiskey straight.

I lean forward and make eye contact with the bartender. He gives me a nod and begins walking toward me with a bottle.

I couldn’t tell you what was bothering me that night. It could’ve been a girl, some bullshit gossip about me, or the boss at my then dead-end job.

He listened to me intently, occasionally nodding his head with this half sarcastic smile, sensing I could ramble like this forever. He interrupts me with   

‘You need to shut the fuck up, pick your damn head up, and act like a man.’

To say it wasn’t the response I was expecting would be fair, but then he continued.

‘Jeff – we get so caught up in our own story that we forget the people who surround us are living their own separate lives. Unfortunately, this means that at times they will make decisions that go against what we want.

When this happens, we need to be willing to step outside of ourselves and look at it from their point of view. There is more to life than just your side of the story.

But most people don’t think or act like this, choosing instead to let their emotions get the better of them, like they’ll post a Facebook status, or embarrassing quotes on Instagram, literally begging people to ask them what’s wrong.

She cheated on you? Good, means she wasn’t the one. You got fired? Great, you fucking hated that job. People are gossiping about you? What did you expect when you confided with the loudest crow in the room?

Shit happens to everyone. There’s not a person alive, or for that matter, dead, who hasn’t been broken by something or someone.

I don't have advice for you, just this question, what happens next?’