It was already 7:30 and I was late again for the dinner out with my wife，Eleanor. We had agreed to meet at the r  (1)  at seven o’clock. I felt a little a  (2)  , but to my relief(宽慰), I had a good excuse: A business meeting had run over and I had w  (3)  no time getting to the dinner.

When I arrived, Eleanor was very angry. “I am sorry, I didn’t m  (4)   to be late, but it was not available,” I said. Then I told her about the business meeting. However, my explanation seemed to make things even w  (5)  , which started to drive me mad as well.

Several weeks later, when I d  (6)  these with my friend Ken Hardy. He smiled, “you made a classic mistake. You’re stuck in your own way of thinking. You didn’t want to be late. But that’s not the p  (7)  . What is important is your communication is how your lateness affected Eleanor.” He said that I paid special attention to the intention(目的) while Eleanor to the r  (8)  . Thus, both of us felt misunderstood and c  (9)  .

Thinking more about Ken’s words, I gradually got the real c  (10)  of such disagreement. It’s what I did really matters!