Understand Their Reason
Understand Their Reason
October 23rd
“When people injure you, ask yourself what good or harm they thought would come of it. If you understand that, you'll feel sympathy rather than outrage or anger. Your sense of good and evil may be the same as theirs, or near it, in which case you have to excuse them. Or your sense of good and evil may differ from theirs. In which case they're misguided and deserve your compassion. Is that so hard?”
—Marcus Aurelius
Meditations
Whether it's that driver who cut you off on your way to work or a remark from a friend that rubbed you the wrong way, Marcus prompts us to view their actions from their perspective.
Is it possible that they were simply clueless to the hurt they might cause you? If so, should you not feel sympathy instead of retaliation?
If they can't see the error of their own ways, then they surely need understanding more than they do your anger.
