Paradigm Shift

Few weeks had past since passing away of my father. He was bed ridden for 3 years and this was the time when I felt most helpless in my life.Now I was at a xerox shop and trying to get photocopy of his death certificate.I needed those photo copies for medical insurance claims. Last few years were difficult for me when nothing seemed to be going right for me. As people say when things go wrong, they go wrong in all aspect of your life. But my immediate irritation was the man in front of me who was trying to get photo copies of some documents. He seemed rude and was wasting lots of time in handing over his documents. 

I saw him having an argument with the shop owner. I was wondering what was the problem with this man?. Then I saw some medical records in his hand. I tried to read the medical records which he was holding in his hand. When I read through those documents I came to know that his wife was seriously ill and needed a kidney transplant. The document which he was trying to xerox where his consent to donate a kidney for his wife. 

I was shocked. And my opinion about the man completely changed. From being irritated I felt very sad and sorry for him. This is known as paradigm shift. What happens when we judge people based on our limited vision. I was ashamed of my self and my respect for the man increased many folds. Learning from this incident was , always go into depth of why people are the way they are.Everyone has a story which defines their behavior. It's always better to give people benefit of doubt as we may not know their complete story. We should always seek to understand and then try to be understood.Seeking to understand others and empathy are the traits of highly effective people.