By the Time you Read this...

What you do not understand is very much older than you, therefore you must try to seek understanding...

Jump the hurdle as you run to it, never you allow your legs to hit it because you might get slowed down by it. This was what Eric was told on the last day of training in preparation for the Olympics. As he got close to the hurdle, the words of the coach echoed very loudly in his ear and before he could prepare himself to make the jump, it was already too late. Eric jumped and his legs collided with the hurdle. Instantly he found himself struggling for balance and before he knew what was happening, he found himself on the ground with all the other athletes moving very far away from him. He tried to get up and join the race again but his legs failed him. He could not face his coach and fill because he was the favourite of all the other athletes.

Don't be too quick to conclude that this article is not worth reading because of the first paragraph, remember the title and ask yourself why should I be in a hurry. The above paragraph is used in other to test our patience especially when it has to do with understanding others. Just as I said in the quote above, you cannot talk about what you do not understand. There must be a level of understanding before you can effectively talk to or understand another person.

Communication and Understanding

I know that a lot of people talk about these two words every day but most times we end up missing the point. When someone comes to complain to you about what you did to them, you are expected to listen and understand before responding. Mind you, your response determines what or how the person will react. Most times we forget this simple rule and this leads us into fighting over little things we could have solved without wasting a sweat. It is one thing to communicate and it is another thing to understand. Without understanding, communication becomes a mere exercise of the muscles of the mouth.

This is what we all need to have a better society but it's very heartbreaking because most times we careless about understanding others. I have gone wrong so many times and I believe you too have done the same. This is why I feel we must look at this with all our minds in other to do better. What we suffer at times may just be our inability to understand the other person even when they try to communicate their feeling to us.

Understanding Leads to Apology.

This is another critical point I must not fail to point out. If you do not understand, you can never render a sincere apology to those you have offended. One big mistake we make every time is allowing our emotions to rule over our sense of reasoning. No matter what you feel about anything, you must not think or assume that others will see it as such rather you must try to understand people have diverse ways of understanding things. Whenever you act or say things, you must be ready to consider what and how the other person will feel about it. It does not matter if what you are saying or doing means nothing to you. This is the only rule that will always make you stand out amongst others.

When we talk about feeling for others, it means that we are no longer putting our feeling first before others rather we try to consider them first in anything we are doing. This is just like driving a car. As a driver, you must be ready to drive not just for yourself but for the other drivers on the road. Whenever you begin to feel that the other driver should know how best to drive therefore you close your eyes, you will end up in a deadly auto crash. We must be ready to think both for ourselves and others at all times. Think about what your actions or words will mean to the other person at every point, this is the easiest way to have a peaceful relationship with others.

Don't act before thinking, think before acting...