Good Advice

“You can look at it differently.” My mother would say when I was perturbed about some interaction with a friend that had upset me. “How about assuming that your friend didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.” Then she would suggest another way to interpret the situation. “Maybe she was just unhappy because someone else hurt her feeling earlier. Maybe something happened to make your friend very disappointed, and she wasn’t thinking straight when she was with you.” She advised that it was always helpful to give whatever someone says or does involving us the best possible interpretation. That advice is pertinent to us all, regardless of our age. Give actions or words that upset us the best possible interpretation. It might not be turn out to be the correct one, but if it gives us a chance to preserve our relationships by refusing to take offense. Why not give the person who offended us, an excuse in our mind and proceed to be friendly, because we have given thee person grace with our interpretation of their intent. If we don’t allow ourselves to be offended by our reaction to people, we will be happier people.

All these years later, that advice to give other peoples’ motives or actions the best possible interpretation helps me find happiness and preserve friendships. We feel better if we give everybody the benefit of the doubt—unless, of course, at least at first. We get to choose to focus on the positive motives in others until they have proved to be habitually negative people. God can help us to approach others in a Godly way that brings us all blessings.