Respect What Others Say about Their Feelings and Thoughts

The book...

• says that it's rare that we ever completely grasp what another person feels or thinks. 
• states that it's very important for us "not to assume we understand people from other cultures & distinct communities within our society.
• mentions "effective communicators don't dispute or disparage what others say about what they feel & think." We should respect what others think & feel; it helps us hit a cornerstone in effective interpersonal communication.

How I understand the concept...

• We can NOT assume that we understand what people think or how they feel. (Assuming makes an ASS out of U & ME.)
• Everyone is unique in their own way. Everybody's different; nobody thinks the same, feels the same, etc. So it's disrespectful for us to try to talk people out of how they feel, or force our thoughts & feelings upon.
• People come from so many different cultures, there's no way we can understand exactly what they go through, unless we too are just like them. (e.g. A white person will never understand certain things a black person goes through, & vice versa.)

Application to my life...

How I apply this concept to my life is to be slow to judge.

For example: You know the famous saying "You can't judge a book by it's cover."? Well I try my best to live by that. It really helps me to keep an open mind, and accept people for who they truly are. I feel that we have no right to judge anybody in this world at all. We aren't God. Like Tupac said, "Only God can judge me." By not judging others, I keep an open mind & am able to respect others' thoughts & feelings.

 Additional Info...

 

Lyrics from Only God Can Judge Me:

Only God can judge me, is that right?
Only God can judge me now
Only God baby, nobody else, nobody else