Look Behind the Mask

I had a conversation today with my boss about another employee who had made some interesting comments to me. My boss gave me some great insight by telling me to look past the comments that were made and see the root of the comments. The reason or the perspective that this employee has compared to what I see.

We all see things a little differently (just ask three witnesses of a car accident what happened) and I think we need to be a little more understanding of others when their comments ruffle our feathers. Look past the outer shell and try to understand why the said what they said or did what they did. I am not proposing that we excuse rude or bad behavior, but sometimes we crucify others who lash out and what they really need is for someone to see their hurt and help them through a tough time. It would serve us well to put our instant wall of self defense aside and display compassion and understanding to those around us that we often disagree with.