The person you are dating expressed a view or preference that you find instinctively strange. Your instinctive reaction is, “you’ve gotta be kidding.” You may rush to demolish the view or to dismiss that preference. What if instead you kept an open mind and chose to be curious: “It is interesting that you say that; what makes you feel that way?”

You may be surprised to learn a new perspective you had not considered. The person you are dating may reveal a medical struggle that they have, and you may instantly assume this is a major problem. What if that was a rush to judgement and the person has learned to handle their issue very effectively?