Tolerance seems to be at the heart of everything. You’re either tolerating someone’s actions or hoping they’re tolerating yours. Today feels like both. He seems stressed or perhaps just in a foul mood, so I’m doing my best to tolerate it, just as he’s tolerating the little things I do without completely losing his temper.
Small remarks can really get under my skin—I’m a sensitive soul. But I’ve been learning to categorize comments, recognizing them for what they are: just words, not personal attacks. Slowly, I’m figuring out how to file them away and, more importantly, how to avoid dwelling on them. Life, in many ways, is a practice in tolerance. We each live in our own unique bubble—a bubble shaped by everything we’ve experienced, felt, and encountered from the moment we were born to the present day. Our individual bubbles are filled with the essence of who we are: our experiences, adventures, personalities, DNA, and the energy that fuels us.
What fascinates me is how no two people share the same bubble. Just like fingerprints, laughter, and the way we think, every single person’s perspective and world are entirely distinct. Even though we may see the color red and call it “red,” the reality is far more intricate. Red isn’t simply red—it’s the interpretation of cells and pigmentation through signals processed by our brains. In essence, it’s all perception.
Our lives, then, revolve around how we interpret the world and how we tolerate the interpretations of others. The words someone says and how we understand them might not align with what they intended—or even with how we think we’re supposed to interpret them. It’s important to recognize that our brains have an automatic response to things before we have time to rationalize them.
So the next time something upsets you or causes harm, try allowing three minutes to pass. Those three minutes can be crucial for shifting from an instinctive reaction to a more rational and thoughtful response. It’s a small pause that can make all the difference in how you handle the world’s endless interpretations.