This week’s ” You Can Save the World:  Simple Actions You Can Take”

Listen to the perspectives of others. One of the best indicators of respect I know is the willingness to honor another person’s point of view. As a psychologist, I regularly worked with couples. When arguments occurred, each person would try to impose his or her view on the other…without being willing to hear the other’s perspective. Soon, they would be angrily fighting about how hurt and disrespected they both felt. By then, they would have totally lost sight of the initial disagreement. The mutal disrespect was much more damaging than the issue that sparked it.

I was always amazed how quickly the tension would subside once the two people felt they had been heard–and respected. They didn’t have to agree with each other–although suprisingly often they did. They just need to acknowledge what their partner thought and felt.

Always invite the other person to tell you their perspective–and honor it–before you present your own.