Mending Misunderstandings

It's so easy to get wrapped up in arguements and wars over misunderstandings. Sometimes people have difficulty conveying what they mean; sometimes people come from different backgrounds but have similar beliefs; sometimes neither side chooses to listen, and both sides miss out on the truth.
Stop, look, listen.
That's what they always told me back in elementary school. Stop, look, and listen before I crossed the street so I wouldn't get run over by a car. What if this applied towards other parts of life as well? What if everyone took the time to stop, look at the other person, and listen to what they were saying. Or rather, not the words they use, but the meaning behind them. Try to understand, try to forgive, try to put differences behind and let bygones be bygones and smile and nod and accept.
You don't have to agree with someone to accept them. You don't even have to support their beliefs. You just have to understand that you are you and they are whoever they are. You can't force beliefs onto someone, and you can't use your own interpretations when listening to people's explainations of their lives. You have to use their interpretations, you have to read it in the original language with their own particular and unique coloring and background.
None of us are exactly the same, so we can't really interpret things as meaning exactly what we'd say they were. Because we would have a high probability of being wrong.
It is good to listen to others, and good to solve misunderstandings before they turn into wars.
It is good to try.