All of Us Are Good
This notion of the distress recording, the congealed results of an experience of distress that was not allowed to be taken apart and re-evaluated, is a very simple but very profound explanation of all the things that have puzzled us about people.
Each one of us knows—and I remind you of this—that he or she is really a good person. You have been told you’re not, and in the presence of fresh criticism you get to feeling [start feeling] you’re not, but in your heart of hearts you know you’re a good person, that you’ve always done the very best you could, and that is true. Each of us knows that he or she is much smarter than he or she can often show, that he or she has a lot of intelligence that doesn’t come out in the tension of the final exam, or the upsetting situation, and this is true.
I now tell you that what you know about yourself is also true of everyone else. This profound knowledge that you’ve hidden to escape ridicule—that you’re a good person, that you always do your best, and that you’re much smarter than you sometimes act or than people think—this is true not only of you but of other people as well.
From page 5 of The Art of Listening
(Present Time 190, January 2018)
1 Harvey Jackins was the founder and first International Reference Person of the Re-evaluation Counseling Communities.