The Year of Tolerance is celebrated in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to live the legacy of its father, Sheikh Zayed. With more than 200+ nationalities in the country, tolerance must indeed be considered as a valuable key to maintaining peace.
For me, tolerance is acceptance. If you cannot accept the differences, it will take a toll on you. Differences in people and things have been there since time immemorial. We cannot transform other people to be and become the persons totally acceptable to us.
Have you ever experienced that when you gave instructions to two people, they both did not follow you? Then you got mad at one but with the other, you did not? So you got angry and yelled at the first person, but not at the second. It is subjective, right? Peace is possible, which means, their actions can be tolerable within your parameters of acceptance.
In the workplace, there are differences of opinions and approaches in handling certain tasks but all for the same vision and mission of the company. Some people fight. There are cases of slander or bad-mouthing, insubordination, and other offenses, that lead to grievances and conflicts, sometimes suspension and dismissal, both are not good not only for the affected employees but for their families and business as well.
On extending loans, I read a case about a woman, owner of a bakery, who was found dead in her car and was killed by a person close to her who owed her money. We do not know exactly what happened but if both of them perhaps stretched their ropes of tolerance, their lives could have been saved.
Relationships break because of some commission or omission of actions of one party or both parties, which if accepted and tolerated for some reasons, can endure the tests of time, and will lead to better, peaceful lives with people they value much, once in their lives.
In the UAE, the three-month (plus another one-month extension) amnesty period for residency laws violators is a huge life-changing show of tolerance. Fines were waived. Amnesty seekers got out of the darkness, emptying themselves of the past to start new lives. What could be more humanitarian than that? With tolerance comes the value for life and humanity.
The Princeton University Wordnet defines 'tolerance' (Wordnet.30), as --
- the power or capacity of an organism to tolerate unfavorable environmental conditions;
- a disposition to allow freedom of choice and behavior;
- the act of tolerating something;
- willingness to recognize and respect the beliefs or practices of others, and;
- a permissible difference, allowing some freedom to move within limits.
IndiaToday.in writes -- "Surprisingly, Netherlands is a country that has no one to put behind the bars. Five years ago, in 2013, Netherlands had 19 prisoners only and now in 2018 this country doesn't have any criminal."
This model of tolerance, allowing people some freedom to move within limits, should be patterned by other countries if the system really proves effectively beneficial contributing to peace and development of the people. There is this so-called ankle monitoring system or a device that the defendants under house arrest or in prison must wear at all times so they can be tracked by authorities. They can be productive again, within limits, and the government expenses in keeping them will be reduced. I think those categorized as highly dangerous prisoners must be within the limit of limits.
If in our daily lives we passionately maximize our tolerance level up to a certain limit, there will be peace in most places from our small circles expanding to the bigger ones.
Remembering Sheik Zayed and how he treated different people with the utmost respect regardless of nationality, status, gender, religion or views, can be very inspiring. Promise, I will paint something related to tolerance and peace as his legacy.
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Photo credits: Pixabay
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