Practicing Understanding

A personal goal for me is to gain understanding; to be sympathetically aware of other people's feelings; tolerant and forgiving.  I struggle with this.  The hard part for me is the annoyance I sometimes feel as I tolerate another person's level of ... well anything ... work ethic, effort,  or understanding of the task we're working on.

As an educator, I know that all of us think differently and that there are many ways for our minds to come to understand things.  I have a greater tolerance for young learners.  My patience is abundant.  But with older learners, I sometimes expect them to remember what was stated in a faster amount of time.  I expect them to recall information from earlier discussions.  It is those expectations that get me frustrated.

I have to constantly remind myself that ALL learners, young and old, process information in different ways and at different speeds.  They all deserve my gift of patience when we are working together, sharing our ideas, strengths, and experience.  I must remind myself that I too, deserve my patience as I work on the personal goal of understanding.