"Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other's eyes for an instant?"
Henry David Thoreau
This quote from Thoreau illustrates how I strive to live my
life. I always find myself looking at
every side of a situation and identifying the motives or reasons. I believe that people are genuinely good and I
try to understand why they are the way they are. It can be hard to do because emotions or
beliefs get in the way. I have learned
to set these things aside and I feel that I can see more clearly.
We are all busy. It is
so easy to get caught up in what is going on in your own life and to quickly
pass unfair judgments onto people or situations. Whenever I make a bad decision I can
rationalize it by telling myself that I had a bad day. When someone else makes a bad decision it is
easy to attribute that decision their character or label them as a bad
person. If we could look though their
eyes at that moment I am positive that their questionable decision would make
sense.
I believe that I am a social entrepreneur in the way that I
view every situation from all sides. I
do my best to show this thinking to people around me. I have more of a lead by example style of
leadership. So if conflicts arise I
typically play the devil’s advocate, which can be frustrating to hear. For example, if a friend is upset with
someone for ditching them on plans they get frustrated and angry. I bring up the other side of the
situation. Maybe they had too much going
on, or they were having personal troubles and didn’t want to be around people. I find that this often brings down tension and
creates peace. I think that thinking this way can have an effect on how we treat the people around us. The world could become a better place if we all became more sensitive to what is going on in others' lives.
The Cleveland Clinic recently made a video that portrays
this idea very well. Check it out if you
have a moment!
I really enjoyed reading your post! I also like to play the devils advocate. I feel like sometimes it is hard to stay in the middle of a conflict when strings are being pulled each and every way. Reading this post assures me that other people do the same thing and you do not have to pick a side. The video was very informative and it portrayed the ideas very clearly just like you did thanks for sharing. Can't wait to read more!
ReplyDelete