Each newsletter we will be sharing a virtue that will be the focus in our school over the following three weeks.  

What is Understanding? Understanding is thinking clearly.  It is using your mind so that you can see the truth about things.  It is paying careful attention and thinking about things in order to see their meaning.  Understanding is also having empathy and showing compassion.  Understanding gives us the power to think and learn and also to care.

Why Practice it? Without an understanding mind, there would be no learning.  People who don't practice understanding don't use their minds fully.  Life is dull and boring because they just do the least amount of learning or thinking.  People who use their heads to understand and solve problems, have great insights and wonderful ideas.  People who use their hearts to understand show compassion and forgive people for their mistakes.

How do you practice it? To practice understanding, you pay close attention.  Look, listen and think.  When faced with a difficult problem, you reflect and reason it out until the answer becomes clear.  You resist distractions.  You concentrate your mind to help you see the whole picture and to understand the meaning of what you see.  You open your heart to understand how people feel and put yourself in their shoes.  You understand that we all make mistakes.  You are willing to be forgiving.

Signs of Success Congratulations!  You are practicing Understanding when you...

• Concentrate and pay close attention.
• Reflect on the meaning of things.
• See the whole picture.
• Resist distractions.
• Put yourself in other people's shoes.
• Forgive others and yourself when you make mistakes.

"Understanding a person does not mean condoning: it only means that one does not accuse him as if one were... a judge placed above him."  Erich Fromm