ASSUME WITH CARE

Yet again a nice piece sent by a friend of mine, couldn't resist sharing it here...
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[ A SOLDIER`S DIGNITY

I was reading a story the other day, and it struck a chord. This is how it went -
An old duke used to hold an annual dinner for the retired officers of his regiment, and every year he chose ten different people who would attend the dinner. One year, post dinner, he found that his silver precious snuffbox was missing, and very candidly asked those present  to turn out their pockets. Nine of them did, but one gentleman refused, and walked out in a huff. So the others automatically assumed he had stolen it, and as expected belittled the old man and forgot about it.
But life being full of twists, four months down the line a lazy handmaid, dusting the armchairs, found the snuffbox stuck in the upholstery. She took it to the duke.
The duke was horrified, as he had been a part of the badmouthing and guiltily decided he needed to go in person to apologize to the officer.
He went to the soldier's sparse home and after much talk asked, "if you hadn’t taken the snuffbox, why did you walk away ??..”
To which the upright soldier replied, "the only thing I had left was my dignity and honour,  and if you did not trust me then, I didn’t want any part of proving it !!”

That is how soldiers are. They assume the world understands them and will respect them and take care of their needs. Because they have been taught that character, courage, and integrity matter more on the battlefield than money ever will. ]
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A few thoughts in passing...

It is not very difficult to understand someone...
It is even easier to misunderstand someone...
But the toughest job is to understand that you misunderstood someone...

🙏🙏