"When you go out into the woods and you look at trees, you see all these different trees. And some of them are bent, and some of them are straight, and some of them are evergreens and some of them are whatever. And you look at the tree and you allow it. You sort of understand that it didn't get enough light, and so it turned that way. And you don't get all emotional about it. You just allow it. You appreciate the tree. The minute you get near humans, you lose all that. And you are constantly saying 'you're too this' or 'I'm too this.' That judging mind comes in. And so I practice turning people into trees. Which means appreciating them just the way they are.” – ram dass

Sometimes I think one of the hardest parts of growing up is accepting the things that you can't change and learning to make peace with people and situations that don't meet your expectations. There is so much grace in simply relieving yourself of the need to evaluate and fix others. We don’t appreciate when people impose their judgments on us either; we tend to assume others will remember that we're constantly growing and changing, and expect them to give us the space and understanding to do so but then forget to return the favor.

Practice patience and kindness, and above all understanding.