I understand

“It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked,
through understanding.”
—Kahlil Gibran (1883 - 1931)

Every now and then we have to deal with a person that seems to ooze
with anger. They make our lives miserable with their harsh words or
constant complaints. And often, this behaviour makes us either want
nothing to do with that person, or we want to let out a few harsh words
of our own to set them straight.

However, this situation can be viewed from another side. What if we
were to say to this person, “I understand” — how you feel, how you are
hurt, how you feel alone, how you are scared. Anger is usually a mask
for many other vulnerable emotions that we don’t want to have to face.

Reaching out with some kind words of understanding is probably the last
thing that the angry person would expect to receive, but what a
wonderful gift we could give without even being asked. Kind words have
the power to heal in miraculous ways.