We all make mistakes. That’s something which we all are aware of. There are days when we may end up doing certain things which we either know are wrong or our intentions are not as what others perceive them to be. I’ll give you an example: You and your best friend are talking over the phone, and you two discuss about the topic of grades. You, the straight-A student, can’t help but mention how the material is just too easy and everyone else must be just dumb if they can’t get an A. You suddenly realize what you had said and regret it big time. You remember that your best friend is not the best student in the class but she is a hard-worker and always worries whether or not she would be able to please her parents by getting good grades. She becomes shocked and immediately feels her self-esteem going down. She knows she puts in a lot of effort, but just because she doesn’t get As doesn’t mean she’s dumb. Right?
Sometimes, our friends, family, or even strangers, tend to slip up, and their words or actions may actually have a bigger impact on us than they thought. Maybe it has nothing to do with us, but you find your friends talking about something which someone else did which was either completely unacceptable or you would never have imagined that certain individual doing it in the first place. Whatever the case is, we must all insure that we harbor good thoughts about our friends, families, and others around us. That statement which a family member said or that “unforgivable” act your friend did, we should overlook their mistakes, especially if they regret their actions later on. Now, you may be wondering why I’m going on and on about something as random as overlooking others’ mistakes. I’ll explain why. You see, in order to build a positive atmosphere, we must practice tolerance, respect, and showing others mercy. If we keep degrading others for the mistakes they had made in the past or make fun of their shortcomings, how would you expect to build strong relationships with those around you if you refuse to think positively of them?
Unfortunately, a lot of us fall short in this. Whenever we learn about what so-and-so did, we can’t help but gossip about it with our friends and avoid that individual because it would look bad for our image. We start believing that we’re way above this individual and we forget that we too make mistakes. We forget to ask ourselves these questions, “How would I like it if other people made fun of me because of a mistake I did?” and “Am I honestly that perfect that I fail to see my own shortcomings/mistakes?” Gossiping, backbiting, slandering… all of these hurt. No one wants to be spoken ill of, so why should we be so harsh towards them if they took the means to become better people? We should all think good thoughts about one another, and whenever we see or hear someone doing such-and-such, we should make excuses for them. Perhaps they didn’t realize that it was wrong for them to do that act in the first place or they were pressured by other people to do it. Whatever it is, spread positivity and help one another become better individuals.
Header image courtesy of Huffington Post.