As I get older, it seems that reading people becomes easier. Maybe that’s part of the gift of age. We’ve learned to know ourselves well enough to trust in our assessments of others. Not that I’m always correct in matters of human nature, but my margin of error has gotten thinner as I’ve grown older.

Seeing this as a gift is key. “With age comes wisdom.” – Sure, if we allow ourselves to let go of stubbornness, pettiness, jealousy, pride. Anything that casts a cloud over our clarity. Once we’ve put all this aside, seeing others for who they truly are is simple, because we’ve accepted our own truth.

This is not license to be judgemental. We cannot scoff in righteous indignation every time we disagree with other people. (I was raised Catholic, but it didn’t ruin me.) Rather, this is a call for acceptance, understanding, balance. If we can’t draw peace from within, we can’t expect harmony in our lives. And if we allow others to disturb our peace, we have not read them correctly.

It has taken me years to trust my feelings about others. That uncertainty has caused some painful truths to become evident. But it has also taught me to never ignore a hunch. Keep reading people. Read through each chapter they reveal. People are like books. Some, you can’t get enough of, can’t put down. And some, you can’t wait to be done with, and would not recommend to others.