Hi Everyone!!
Many people believe that BEFORE they can be ‘tolerant’ of someone – they must FIRST ‘accept’ them just as they are, but that is NOT TRUE.
In fact, there is no need to tolerate someone that we already accept. Do you ‘tolerate’ someone that you like and/or love? No, you ‘accept’ them, flaws and all. Tolerance is a gift that we give to someone who we do NOT accept. I tolerate ‘you’ INSPITE of those things that you say or do that I find impossible, or nearly impossible, to ‘accept’. For example:
The idea that we must first ‘approve of’ someone (i.e. accept them the way they are) BEFORE we can ‘tolerate’ them – is absolute nonsense. WE WILL NEVER ‘accept’ someone that we ‘tolerate’.
Do you strive to be a tolerant person? Then you better find out what ‘being humble’ means. It takes a great deal of humility (‘humble-ness’) to ‘tolerate’ someone you do NOT agree with. IF you go through life with the ‘I AM RIGHT and THEY ARE WRONG’ attitude, you will NEVER be tolerant of ANYONE. To be tolerant you MUST we willing to accept that YOU COULD be WRONG, and there is the problem. For most people, asking them to even consider the possibility that they MIGHT be wrong is asking far too much. They simply cannot allow themselves to be so ‘open-minded’.
Think about it.
GREAT BIG HUG
Craig!!