Perspectives

Try this exercise.

Think of one person in your life whom you don't always understand. Perhaps it's even someone with whom you tend to have a lot of conflict.

Spend a few minutes thinking about every aspect of that person's life. Think about that person's upbringing, circumstances, emotions, level of satisfaction with life, changes and stresses, critical events, and political and religious views. Give a monologue as that person. What would you say?

You may be surprised that even though you've known someone all of your life, you will discover so much more by using this technique.

You can even do this with strangers, imagining what may have happened in their lives and how they see the world and themselves. This works particularly well when a stranger's actions cause us aggravation or anger.

Each of us has a very unique perspective. In order to better live with each other, we need to use this skill of seeing someone else's perspective. It allows us to have more compassion, understanding, patience, and can give us more inner peace about others around us.