TOLERANCE: (noun) The ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular the existence of opinions that one does not necessarily agree with.

The act of tolerance is needed as much today as any time in history.

Today marks an opportunity for each of us to reflect on our ability to be tolerant of those who we encounter on a daily basis.

It might be easy to be tolerant of those who agree with us on our core values. It’s easy to tolerate those who are of the same political affiliation, who have the same cultural and ethnic backgrounds, who are of the same socio-economic background.

That’s the easy part of tolerance. It’s the part we don’t have to try to achieve.

But there’s the other part of the act of tolerance that is more difficult and that is still tolerating, respecting and loving those who are different than us in belief, background and more.

Nov. 16 is recognized annually as International Day for Tolerance.

The United Nations declared Nov. 16 each year as the International Day for Tolerance in 1996, following the Year for Tolerance in 1995.

On Nov. 16 1995, UNESCO created the Declaration of Principles on Tolerance as a way to define and provide awareness of tolerance for any and all governing and participating bodies.

Now, as an anniversary of that declaration, we celebrate the International Day for Tolerance every Nov. 16 to help spread tolerance and raise awareness of any intolerance that my still be prevalent in the world today.

Although we should be tolerant every day, it’s always good to have one occasion to remind us just how important tolerance is.

Tolerance is important because we will likely encounter people who are different from us in various ways each day. They may be co-workers, customers, neighbors, even friends and family members.

To tolerate does not mean we have to agree with one another. To tolerate also does not mean to simply look past the differences. It means to respect one another despite the differences.

We can disagree on just about anything but still respect one another.

We can be different in so many various ways and still respect one another.

We can and we SHOULD.

Tolerance seems like an easy concept, but many struggle with this. Especially these days when we have an us vs. them mentality that is promoted by many people in power in our country, it can be hard to grasp the idea of tolerance.

It can be hard to be tolerant, especially of people who you disagree with on fundamental values by which you define yourself.

But by being tolerant, we can open ourselves to the idea that because someone disagrees or does something differently than us, doesn’t mean they are wrong. It just means they are different. And different is beautiful.

Use today as an opportunity to self-reflect.

Where can you be more tolerant in your life? Who can you educate about tolerance?

Editorials represent the opinion of the newspaper’s editorial board. The board is comprised of publisher Michael Caldwell and Bluegrass Newsmedia editors Whitney Leggett and Ben Kleppinger. To inquire about a meeting with the board, contact Caldwell at 759-0095.