Things are not always black or white

My school is having final exam today. thus, i was so free that i can read books in staff room and even in class. the following is one of the interesting stories i read.

Things Are Not Always Black or White

(They can be in black and white at the same time)

When I was in elementary school, i got into a major argument with a boy in my class. I have forgotten what the argument was about, but i have never forgotten the lesson i learned that day.

I was convinced that i was right and he was wrong- and he was just as convinced that i was wrong and he was right. The teacher decided to teache us a very important lesson. She brought us up to the front of the class and placed him on one side of her desk and me on the other. In the middle of her desk was a large, rouund object. I could clearly see that it was black. She asked the boy what colour the object was. "White," he answered.

I couldn't believe he said that the object was white, when it was obviously black! Another argument starated between my classmate and me, this time about the colour of the object. The teacher told me to go stand where the boy was standing and told him to come stand where I had been.We changed places, and now she asked me what the color of the object was. I had to answer, "White." It was an object with two different colored sides, and from his viewpoint it was white. Only from my side it was black.

My teacher taught me a very important lesson that day: You must stand in the other person's shoes and look at the situation through their eyes in order to truly understand their perspective.

~Judie Paxton

# Teachers are those who use themselves as bridges,
Over which they invite their students to cross;
Then having facilitated their crossing, joyfully collapse,
Encouraging them to create bridges of their own.
~ Nikos Kazantzakis