I believe the sun should not set upon an arguement...
In our day to day life, there's bound to be conflicts with another person; be it with our bosses, colleagues, strangers on the the phone that we have never met before, and more often than not, our loved ones.
These conflicts/arguements often arises not so much because both parties differ in opinion, but rather becauyse that neither conflicting parties is willing to take a step back and give in.
In society nowadays, this is often the case. People tend to adopt this "kiasu" (which translated directly from Hokkien means "scared to lose") attitude, in addition to the over-inflated egos, the thought of backing-off would merely mean "losing".
What the phrase "the sun should not set upon an arguement" litarally means is that when the sun sets (i.e. a day is gone), leave all your arguements of the day behind. Never bring it beyond the sun set (i.e. tomorrow).
I would love to illustrate this point with a story which I'm sure most of you have read before (but I might have modified a little to get my point across)
The carpenter I hired to help me restore and old farmhouse had just finished a rough first day on the job. A fiery arguement with his wife that morning, flat tire made him lose an hour of work, his electric saw quit, and now his ancient pickup truck refused to start. While I drove him home, he sat in stony silence.
On arriving, he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands. When opening the door, he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss.
Afterward he walked me to the car. We passed the tree and my curiosity got the better of me. I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier.
"Oh, that's my trouble tree", he replied. "I know I can't help having troubles on the job or arguements or misunderstandings with people, but one thing for sure, I do not what to bring them home with me when the sun sets. So I just hang them on the tree every evening when I come home. Then in the morning I will pick them up again."
"Funny thing is", he smiled, "when I come out in the morning to pick 'em up, there ain't nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before ."
In our day to day life, there's bound to be conflicts with another person; be it with our bosses, colleagues, strangers on the the phone that we have never met before, and more often than not, our loved ones.
These conflicts/arguements often arises not so much because both parties differ in opinion, but rather becauyse that neither conflicting parties is willing to take a step back and give in.
In society nowadays, this is often the case. People tend to adopt this "kiasu" (which translated directly from Hokkien means "scared to lose") attitude, in addition to the over-inflated egos, the thought of backing-off would merely mean "losing".
What the phrase "the sun should not set upon an arguement" litarally means is that when the sun sets (i.e. a day is gone), leave all your arguements of the day behind. Never bring it beyond the sun set (i.e. tomorrow).
I would love to illustrate this point with a story which I'm sure most of you have read before (but I might have modified a little to get my point across)
The carpenter I hired to help me restore and old farmhouse had just finished a rough first day on the job. A fiery arguement with his wife that morning, flat tire made him lose an hour of work, his electric saw quit, and now his ancient pickup truck refused to start. While I drove him home, he sat in stony silence.
On arriving, he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands. When opening the door, he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss.
Afterward he walked me to the car. We passed the tree and my curiosity got the better of me. I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier.
"Oh, that's my trouble tree", he replied. "I know I can't help having troubles on the job or arguements or misunderstandings with people, but one thing for sure, I do not what to bring them home with me when the sun sets. So I just hang them on the tree every evening when I come home. Then in the morning I will pick them up again."
"Funny thing is", he smiled, "when I come out in the morning to pick 'em up, there ain't nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before ."
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