We all have a little wicked inside us.  I brought my 10-year-old daughter to see the play Wicked last week and it was incredible.  Reminded me how we can be guilty of judging a book by its cover.  How we can fall into the trap of labelling the “bad guy” and the “good guy.”  Or the wicked witch and the good witch.  Even though we might be dead wrong.

And the fact that everyone has a story.  Everyone.

How many times have we created a script in our heads about why someone did something and how awful they are for doing it?  I mean could any of us have had empathy for the Wicked Witch of the West?  Not likely.

But after watching her back story, we feel for her.  We understand her.  We cheer her on.

Wouldn’t it be great if we made that jump for the folks we meet in our everyday life?  They might be having a bad day, a bad week or a bad season.  They might be under enormous pressure at work or at home.  They might be fighting a sickness or an emotional loss or a financial disaster.

We can all be a little wicked.  But it doesn’t mean we aren’t also beautiful and kind and loving and perfectly imperfect.

Author Savi Sharma said, “Everyone has a story. It might or might not be a love story. It could be a story of dreams, friendship, hope, survival or even death.  And every story is worth telling.  But more than that, it’s worth living.”

So embrace your story and be open to the fact that the people you meet every day are living through their own story as well.  There is a little wicked and a lot of love inside each and every one of us.