“It was something my dad told me, and I really liked it.  It stuck with me.  Usually it would be because my sister and I were fighting.  He wanted me to have compassion for my sister who had kind of a tough childhood for a number of reasons, but I don’t know that it really helped me that much for her.  It helped me many other times.  We are all ego centric and we look at things from our point of view.  Sometimes when you pause, you can realize where other people are coming from and it benefits you also in so many ways.  You can be more compassionate because you understand them.  Not manipulate, but you can change the situation so both people get more of what they want.  Its just smarter. Its just plain smarter not to live only in your own mind.  You really should do that.  You can use it to your advantage in addition to helping someone else.”

The informant relies a lot on having compassion and understanding for others, but she also understands that by helping others sometimes you can help yourself.  Hearing this as a child has helped her better understand how to deal with people in her present.  This goes to show how some things really stick with children and the weight that proverbs can carry as wisdom from an “older generation.”