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I will:
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Tolerance


vs. prejudice
not confuse what is right with what is popular.
expect the same of myself as I expect of
others.
look for ways to help others mature.
accept my own unchangeables and the
unchangeables of others.
listen before I form an opinion.


1. Do you remember a time when someone was tolerant of your mistakes?
How did that affect you?
2. What hinders you from being tolerant when someone is irritating to you?
3. Have you ever "dug your heels in" when there was a dispute, only to find
out you were wrong? How could you avoid that in the future?
4. How can you reconcile the apparent contradiction of keeping a high
standard, yet extending tolerance to a person who falls short of it?
5. Can you describe a time when you began to understand a difficult
person? How did that happen? What resulted?
Talk about Tolerance
Applying tolerance can ultimately build
team excellence. By using mistakes as
steps to learning and to gaining better
understanding of each other, a sense
of real teamwork emerges!
Building Tolerance
Parents - Click here for tips on encouraging your children to develop the character quality this month.
Check out the Just for Kids pages for a nature analogy and a historical lesson.
For more on this quaility...
-
visit "Just for Kids"
- see the Resource list
- visit www.characterfirst.com
What is Tolerance?

"Tolerance comes from the
Latin word "tolerare," which means
"to bear." In other words, a person
bears with one who is irritating or
shows great weakness. Being
tolerant means a person doesn't
require perfection. He recognizes
that people are at different levels of
maturity and gives them room to
grow, yet he doesn't weaken his
own standards. By taking this
position, a tolerant person can
encourage others to move toward
a higher standard.

A tolerant person avoids
judging a person by appearance,
but seeks to value them by
listening and gaining
understanding of their inner
motivations. He seeks to
understand individuals for their
own qualities, pushing past group
stereotypes and outward
appearances. He avoids
measuring the worth of a person
by factors, such as a handicap or
rough family background, that are
beyond that person's control.

A tolerant person takes time to
evaluate a situation carefully
before speaking. He often uses
that time to measure his own
behavior by that of the one who is
irritating to him, knowing that
irritations often reveal our own
blind spots.


"Tolerance does not lower the standards of
good character in order to make everyone
more acceptable."
--Character First


"Tolerance comes with age. I see no fault committed that I
myself could not have committed at some time or other."
--Goethe