I am part of a community/social service initiative undertaken by my school. On one of my visits to an orphanage, a girl named Anya and I were appointed to take care of a 9 year-old girl, Meera, in her leisure time and to play with her for a week. I never knew what would happen in the coming week and how it would change me. On the weekend, we decided to do some painting.

I never could have guessed what I was about to learn. Meera was painting a sunset scene with her playing in the sand. While painting, she spilled a paint bottle. The paint fell on her painting and on Anya and me as well. It was a time where our patience was being tested, and in that moment, Anya and I became two people who were very different from each other. I said to myself, "maybe we're not such a good team, after all." And why is that? Well, let’s just say, our ways were different. In life, everybody has their own methods and ways to handle situations. Some panic, some withdraw and some try to make it all better. I wasn’t in the later category. I did not even realize what example I was setting and I nearly lost my nerve when I saw the big yellow stain on my jeans. I started rubbing the stain furiously with some water just hoping it would vanish somehow. I thought of sitting next to Meera and scolding her because I thought that was the only way she would learn to not repeat the mistake. Then, I saw Anya, laughing and giggling with Meera and trying to clean the mess while simultaneously telling little Meera that it was okay. She mumbled some more words of kindness, but one sentence of hers changed my perspective.

It changed my perspective on how we all function and how we perceive situations. Anya told Meera - "it's okay to make mistakes." It's okay to fall or to make a mess sometimes, but make sure you learn something from this. What we learned today is to never lose your patience or hope when something unpleasant happens. It is a mistake; it can be rectified. Then, Anya looked at me, and I did not quite understand what she meant. Maybe it was a queue that I should go help or an indication that my reaction was perhaps not very nice or maybe a 'thank you' for the 'Lesson of The Day' was born out of my reaction. To be honest, I felt ashamed of how I had reacted- how, instead of thinking of a solution, I lost my temper, how I was not a part of today's lesson and how I had missed teaching Meera an important truth of life, The truth is that we all are different. We come from different places and we have different beliefs, and maybe it is when diverse beliefs intersect, that we end up learning something.

Before this incident, I did not believe in patiently finding a solution to a mistake or a problem. I believed that strictness helps to make sure that a mistake is not repeated in the future. And Anya, she believed that each situation can be handled with ease and with tolerance. And what I had forgotten, but realized soon after this situation, was that kindness helps. Helping helps. We are all human beings here. We all make mistakes. Meera made a mistake in that perhaps she wasn't very careful, I made the mistake that I lost my cool and similarly, we all make mistakes. What is important, is to take a lesson from it and live life patiently.