Exclamation mark

 ^{https://pixabay.com/vectors/dust-fumes-inhalation-danger-98744/} We all have a tolerance level. Our ability to accept insults or intolerance from others is obviously limited. Historically, there have been some people who, because of their enormous and unusual capacity for acceptance, have been distinguished in some way—either during their lifetime or even posthumously. Who can forget Mahatma Gandhi, who led a long struggle for India's independence when it was under British rule? His determination and calmness will certainly be remembered for many generations to come. Another person with iron determination was undoubtedly Nelson Mandela. Mandela spent more than two and a half decades in prison, most of that time in almost inhumane conditions. His struggle against the racial divisions that had formed on the African continent, and in particular in his country, South Africa, was his driving force. Subjected to many forms of torture, he never succumbed to weakness, rising to an almost superhuman level. While he was captive, he maintained his psychological cohesion at the cost of iron discipline. The Dalai Lama is another person who is often cited when we talk about an above-average ability to withstand psychological and even physical pressure, which did not deter him from his goal. Shortly after China's occupation of Tibet, he had to flee in 1959, and since then he has been one of the most active people fighting against this occupation by the Chinese government. His actions always involve an approach against violence and the promotion of dialogue between the parties, and a diplomatic route to try to reach an agreement between the two sides. Surely these three people have much more in common. They have become true spiritual leaders, leaders with a charisma that no electoral act could have given them, or that a vote could have bestowed upon them. In today's world, what exists ends up being exactly the opposite. We have leaders of great nations appearing daily in committees, conferences, interviews, and on all sides, their aggressive stance and clear certainty is shocking. They rarely admit that they may have doubts, or that there may be another way to reach an agreement with the side that is not in our favor. A more aggressive spirit may even bear some fruit in the short term. But what is remarkable in our brief passage through this world is not the clear certainty with which we say things, or with which we change the course of history. On the diametrically opposite side, we have several leaders who refuse to sit down at the negotiating table, not because they do not have a moral duty to do so, but simply out of cowardice. We must accept that we are not always right, and that often the best response we can give is simply to listen carefully to what someone else has to say. Today, when I was arriving at work early in the morning, I noticed the number of paper notices posted on office walls, doors, and windows. Notices everywhere. Many of them even had exclamation marks. Fortunately, I didn't see any with more than one exclamation mark. > But what difference does an exclamation mark make on a notice? Does our brain receive a very different message than if there were only the notice? Instead of using harsher words, what if we simply used more careful language and made the message more targeted, not in the sense of what we should do or what we are forbidden to do, but rather emphasizing the reason why we are conveying the message. Often the message is lost amid so much noise. In the midst of a society that only cares about what is happening now, and not so much about what could be achieved if the way it conveyed and communicated information were clearer and less interjectional.  --- Free image from [Pixabay.com](https://pixabay.com/)