The way to understanding

You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.  Harper Lee

It's an art of sorts to get outside of yourself and purposefully place yourself in the shoes of another.  It's an act of selflessness to consider another's perspective.  Have you ever let go of your irritation with someone long enough to try and understand where they might be coming from?  Have you ever made the choice to go beyond the surface of someones behavior and try to understand their depths - where they speak and behave from?  We cannot really know another person until we make the decision to "climb inside of his [her] skin and walk around in it."  Until we make a decision to come to an understanding of who they really are below the surface we won't understand them. And when we make the choice to do that something happens - we have compassion for them.  We don't have to agree with them to have compassion and understanding.  We should make it our goal to understand people and not just interact with them on the surface level of their lives. Just as we want people to interact with us so we should do the same.  Want to be understood?  Then begin by understanding.