You will hurt people no matter who you are
You will hurt people no matter who you are. I used to think if I was just kind enough, spiritual enough, conscious enough, I could avoid hurting anyone. If I chose my words carefully. If I was always understanding. If I never said no to anyone. If I kept my opinions to myself. But here's what I discovered: Our existence alone will trigger someone. Our success will make someone feel inadequate. Our happiness will remind someone of their sadness. Our confidence will make someone feel insecure. Our authenticity will make someone feel fake. Even our kindness will be seen as weakness by some. Even our love will be rejected by others. Even our help will be resented by people who aren't ready for it. This isn't because we're bad people. It's because everyone is walking around with their own wounds, their own stories, their own unhealed parts. And sometimes, just by being ourselves, we accidentally poke those wounds. I remember when I first started talking about nonduality and presence. Some people loved it. Others thought I was being pretentious. Some said I was helping them. Others said I was confusing them. Same message. Same intention. Completely different reactions. Because it was never really about me. It was about what my words triggered in them. And here's the thing - I could have watered down my message to avoid triggering anyone. I could have stayed quiet. I could have played it safe. I could have tried to please everyone. But then I wouldn't have been able to help the people who were ready to hear what I had to share. We think hurting people is always bad. But sometimes, the truth hurts. Sometimes, growth hurts. Sometimes, awakening hurts. The alternative is staying comfortable in illusion. So we have a choice. We can try to avoid hurting anyone and end up helping no one. Or we can accept that our truth will trigger some people and trust that it will also liberate others. But here's where presence changes everything. When we operate from presence, we're not trying to be authentic.