I so love the work Arbinger does and thank you for lifting it up! What has struck me most about self-deception and life 'in the box' is that it's a personal recognition of how easy it is to view other human beings as objects or obstacles. Why is it so hard to recognize people as people whose values, needs, desires, and priorities are just as valid as my (our) own?

As easy as it might be to say this theoretically, in daily living practice it's hard!
--That idiot on the road in front of me (not that human on the road);
--that moron who's standing indecisively in front of the ONE PRODUCT I came into the grocery store to buy;
--that child or that parent who *just doesn't get it*.

Any time I am more aware of my own goals rather than someone else's needs I run the risk of treating others as objects.

And that's the problem that I don't realize I don't have.

So every day becomes a practice of recognizing that I'm in the box toward someone and asking myself "What if their needs and desires are just as valid as my own? How would that change my approach--my way of being--here?"