Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength. ~Eric Hoffer

Fall seven times, stand up eight. ~Japanese Proverb

Are you interested in knowing another person's point of view?

The feeling part - feeling other people's feelings or having a resonance in your body with what's going on with them - maybe there's not we can do about that. It either happens or it doesn't happen if we're open for it.

But to use our imagination and our thinking, that's something we have some choice over. So if you find yourself in a difficult situation with other people, a difficult interpersonal situation, from what perspective do you look at the difficulty?

One of the perspectives to bring into this situation is, "What is it like for that person? How is it for them to be in this conflict? How is it for them to be struggling? What's going on for them in their life that they are so angry? Let me take a moment here to try to understand the background of their situation - they are afraid. What happened in their life that they are so afraid?
That's a choice - to take time to think and reflect what perspective - what's the bigger picture - that this person is operating under, as opposed to retaining only the perspective of "This person's had an impact on ME, and this is the impact it's had on ME, and this person better understand MY perspective and ME history and what happened to ME in my life - and I'm going to tell them."

- Gil Fronsdal

President Obama
 

"Nothing is easier than solving a problem on the backs of people who are poor, or people who are powerless, or don't have lobbyists, or don't have clout," Obama said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._n_851374.html

....whenever you are in conflict with someone, there is one factor that can make the difference between damaging your relationship or deepening it....that factor would be attitude...

For my Son.....
 

fences..
 

....funny..how a little fence, becomes a wall...before we even know it happened. how we post guards, always at the ready, to defend a broken heart and we entrust the key to a jaded past...and then it never ceases to amaze me...the power of a sweet babygrrl...to loose those stones...one by one...until all she has to do...to be home...is step over a little fence....

Me

I can never hear this one enough :)

Who Me?
 

Nothing is easier than solving a problem on the backs of people who are poor or people who are are powerless or who don't have a lobbyist or don't have clout. I don't think that's particularly courageous.

- Obama, April 2011

"The very notion of out butching one another and competing for masculine validation intersects with complicated relationships, sex roles, friendships, and internalized sexism in a way that must be addressed directly. Lets put our fists down, and look eye to eye to those we are separating ourselves from so that we can collaborate in our fight for justice."

- Jessica Pettitt, Keynote Speaker -BUTCH Voices Dallas 2010

Loss as muse. Loss as character. Loss as life. ~Anna Quindlen

...
 

"Have you ever thought, when something dreadful happens, a moment ago things were not like this; let it be then not now, anything but now? And you try and try to remake then, but you know you can't . So you try to hold the moment quite still and not let it move on and show itself." ~ Mary Stewart

This made me :| and then laugh