I lost a thought today

9.35am As we raced through the last of the planting I remember I had a thought that I really wanted to write down and develop, but I couldn’t write it down in the pouring rain and a couple hours later it’s gone from my head. I know I really liked it too, I remember thinking at that moment that it was the best thought I’ve had this week. Bugger.

I know it was a philosophy about how I can move amongst people, how to live well without doing harm or being harmed by others even when it feels as though they are being antagonistic, and most significantly, how to be less antagonistic myself.

10.57am I’ve remembered it! (I’ve enjoyed the exercise of trying to remember it too):

Be precise but be tolerant.

I think it must have been loosely inspired by Jon Postel’s Robustness Principle for programming, “be conservative in what you do, be liberal in what you accept from others”.

At times I can be an intolerant person. Intolerance, in all its forms, is the defect in character that I most wish to change. In trying to frame it out I’ve tried a few phrases to see how they fit, one being:

I have a low tolerance for irritating behaviour from people I don’t respect.

The issue with this one is that my tolerance is often low even with people I respect and love. In those moments is it my tolerance or my respect that waivers? I believe effectively exploring and answering this question is key to becoming the kinder, more tolerant person that I wish to be.