Compassion goes a long way

Last night, my husband and I went to see The Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I had heard it was a good movie to see, so as a surprise my husband took me out. The most heartbreaking thing about the movie was how a small misunderstanding can have huge destructive consequences, and a little compassion can diffuse the worse situation. In social psychology, there is a concept that when we witness someone's bad behavior, we automatically assume the worst while we are very quick to explain away our own bad behavior. For example, imagine a woman who pushes her way through a line at the movies. Others in the line may assume that she is rude and disrespectful. However, the actual situation is that the woman's daughter has just fainted on the other side of the line, and the woman is rushing to her side. Most of us would excuse the mother's rude behavior because we would understand the anxiety of when those we love are hurt. Sometimes behavior can't be explained away, but most times a little bit of empathy and compassion can go a long way to making this world more peaceful.