4. Stop expecting them to fit your idea of who they are.

Loving and respecting others means allowing them to be themselves. When you stop expecting people to be a certain way, you can begin to appreciate THEM.

Pay close attention, and respect people for who they are and not for who you want them to be. We don’t know most people half as well as we believe we do; and truly knowing someone is a big part of what makes them wonderful. Every human being is remarkable and beautiful; it just takes a patient set of eyes to see it. The more you get to know someone, the more you will be able to look beyond their appearance and see the beauty of who they truly are.

If everyone thought alike this world would be pretty boring. Being the overly analytical type it’s sometimes difficult and frustrating to work with people who are wired differently. Case in point, our CEO is a very emotional critter and drives me up the wall when I ask for information and get a book for a response when all I wanted was a sentence. When I shift my focus away from what I want, I find him enjoyable to be around and full of insights from a totally different perspective than mine. I grow as a person because of him, and reduce my stress level when I stop trying to squeeze him into a box I created.

Chris Nichols