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Estefani Gordillo

November 2024 International Day for Tolerance By Estefani Gordillo

Every culture, every religion, every language.

Who are you?

When you look in the mirror, who do you see?

For whoever you see, wouldn’t it be truly lovely to take a look into someone else's perspective? I would love to move to another individual’s mirror and see what they are seeing in themselves. We're all unique in our own way, yet one aspect that has created our inner identity is our open-mindedness or leniency. Who knew such beauty of difference can unite every one of us? Having tolerance for diversity has been increasing all over the world for years. We may know why tolerance for other people's values and beliefs are important. Our prior knowledge may point to the openness of respect and acceptance. The true significance of tolerance in differences doesn’t really depend on what we know but on what we feel.



If you take a look at the garden around the corner, you may come to see a variety of bushes and flowers in the same area. Our jaws drop because of the beauty that is in front of our eyes. We are able to feel how each flower’s beauty creates one strong garden. We know that one flower may be red and the other blue, but if we tolerate the difference in color, our hearts see beyond what our minds see. We can see that the different colors don’t make the garden worse. If anything, the garden shines brighter than ever. Tolerance allows us to value every difference that stands before our eyes.

Making the world more inclusive requires acknowledging, accepting, and valuing cultural and religious diversity through having an open heart and mind for understanding another’s belief and identity. By embracing differences, we learn to see the value in perspectives different from our own.

I can talk about respecting and tolerating differences all day, yet, we know this can be very difficult. The International Day for Tolerance, created in 1996, encourages respect for the various cultures, languages, and faiths found around the world. The public should be made aware of the importance of ensuring that everyone has access to Universal Human Rights on this day. On this day, individuals are encouraged to learn about the harmful impacts of intolerance as well as the detrimental effects that racism, oppression, injustice, and unfair discrimination have on society. This day's theme is to promote understanding of human rights, tolerance, and nonviolence. On this day, workplaces can recognize the value of mutual respect, tolerance, and communication among people from all cultures and civilizations. Now that we know the difference on why tolerance is a true form of beauty and why we should learn to leave our intolerant behaviors behind, it is important to consider what can be done to improve this behavior. International Day for Tolerance should not just be one day. We should learn from this day and carry it on with us for the rest of our lives.


Tolerance and Distress

When we are in distress, and find it difficult to accept reality, increasing our

Distress Tolerance abilities can be helpful.

The STOP method is simple to apply and remember:

Stop - To maintain control, pause.

Take- a moment to name the emotion you are feeling, take a step back – get unstuck from what is going on

Observe – what is going on around you and inside you?

Proceed mindfully – what act will allow for success?


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