5 Tips To Be More Tolerant
Since we become aware of ourselves, human beings tend to define ourselves. Thus, we are incorporating ideas, values, thoughts and opinions that contribute to forming an image of who we are. However, being more tolerant can enrich us on a social and personal level.
It is not always easy for us to open ourselves to points of view that are different or contrary to our own. After all, in the age of individualism and competitiveness, few people take the time to truly listen to others.
Our beliefs seem to be the most correct and we do not hesitate to defend them tooth and nail, even if this involves interpersonal conflicts or even causes harm to someone else. However, developing tolerance not only brings us closer to happiness but also allows us to enjoy more satisfying relationships.
Keys to being more tolerant
We all want to enjoy the benefits of tolerance, but applying it in our daily lives can be difficult. Therefore, below we present some keys that will help us achieve the objective.
Be aware of your own biases
Our beliefs define us; and, for the same reason, it is natural that we try to keep them intact. All of us implement different biases and mechanisms to “protect” ourselves from those opinions and evidence that contradict what we consider to be true.
Thus, we tend to seek information and opinions that reinforce our points of view and we ignore, ignore or attack those that go in the opposite direction.
Being aware of how our mind works will help us not to get carried away by these dynamics. Thus, before rejecting, judging or criticizing others, the ideal is to ask ourselves why we are doing it. Over time we will find it easier and easier to identify these mental traps and see beyond them.
Surround ourselves with diverse people
To learn to be more tolerant, we have to open ourselves to knowing other realities. If we normally move in the same environment and interact with a small circle of people, those possibilities are limited.
For this reason, it is interesting to expand our social circle, travel, delve into other cultures and interact with people of different ages, ethnicities, origins and interests.
Listen to understand, not to respond
Many of the misunderstandings, conflicts and arguments arise because we do not maintain an open attitude towards what others have to say. We listen to respond, to refute, to explain why our opinion is really valid.
If we want to learn to be more tolerant, we have to start by listening actively; not with the intention of looking for flaws in the other’s speech, but with the aim of truly understanding their reality. After all, every opinion is a reflection of one’s own experiences; and, therefore, we cannot judge anyone without knowing their way.
So, let’s ask, listen, reflect, let’s genuinely care about others. Let’s try to understand where their values, ideas and beliefs come from. This exercise in empathy will be really useful to us.
Don’t be afraid to change your mind
Being tolerant implies not judging, being flexible and capable of self-criticism. Thus, it is possible that at certain times we discover information that makes us rethink our beliefs. And this is completely valid, this is how people mature and we transform ourselves into our best version.
Let’s not be afraid to change our mind, let’s not see it as inconsistent, it is actually a step forward. Let us remember that we have the right to redefine ourselves and we are not obliged to meet the person we were in the past. Let us fearlessly integrate all the new perspectives that come our way and with which we connect, even if they are contrary to the ones we maintained.
Respect is not the same as sharing
We often assume that respecting the beliefs or ways of life of others implies agreeing with them, but this does not have to be the case. Being more tolerant of other points of view does not imply that we have to modify ours, it only means that we respect the opinions and decisions of others, even if they are not the ones we would make.
Being more tolerant makes us happier
Intolerant individuals tend to maintain rigid and immovable thought patterns, and this causes suffering on many occasions. People, circumstances and life in general will not always respond to our wishes and preferences, and we have to assume it. Resisting what is different causes us restlessness, unease and internal tension. On the contrary, accepting allows us to live in harmony.
On the other hand, being more tolerant helps us to enjoy healthier and more satisfying interpersonal relationships. Links in which neither member wishes to change the other and, on the contrary, both enrich each other.
It is our ego that tries to control everything that happens around us, the one that feels the urgent need for nothing to get out of our molds. If we work on it, we can open ourselves to a more flexible mindset and more fluid thinking.
