What if you were walking along, minding your own business, when you ran into a friend of yours? Happenstance, of course, on the sidewalk next to Chipotle, Barnes and Noble, or Target (three of my most favorite places)?

What if upon seeing that friend, you clapped him on the shoulder with glee, being so excited to see him?

And what if your friend suddenly punched you in the face?

Blam.

I’m sure you would go through several stages. Pain (most certainly), probably followed by shock, then most likely anger, which could very well cause you to punch him back in less than a few seconds without a considerable amount of restraint.

Why, oh why did he punch you in the face?

You check your facts. You haven’t done anything to offend him (that you know of). You’ve been in considerable contact. Your interactions have been quite amiable. And yet, when you clapped him on the shoulder, he punched you!

Not okay.

But what if I told you that under your friend’s nicely starched shirt was a tightly bandaged, deeply painful, oozing wound?

And your gleeful clap had just sent searing pain through his entire body, causing an almost immediate physical reaction?

It certainly doesn’t excuse the punch, but it quite possibly explains it.

The moral of the story is this:

We have no idea what someone else is going through, what pain he’s experienced, or what happened just before you saw him.

We don’t know what wounds are buried beneath the surface where we cannot see them. What painful, awful, searing, horrible, nasty wounds.

And most likely the reaction you receive has absolutely nothing to do with you at all. It has everything to do with him. His day, his experiences, his pain.

Let’s determine to consider the oozing wound before we jump to any conclusions.

It certainly doesn’t excuse the punch, but it quite possibly explains it.

---

**thanks to my hubby for this great illustration**

Need a challenge to grow in 2019? Then join us for the Best Year Ever 2019 30 Day Challenge! Read about it here. Just want to JOIN US? Click here to sign up.

Read my most viral post EVER about why you don’t need a boyfriend or girlfriend in high school.  

Want to know more about the author? Carrie Wisehart is a high school English teacher, blogger, author, and speaker who is CRAZY about life. Check out her YouTube channel, Facebook page, Twitter or Instagram!