“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view. … Until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”

Harper Lee wrote these words, spoken by character Atticus Finch in Lee’s famous novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” published in 1960 — smack dab in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement.

For those who haven’t read the book recently, Atticus shares this wisdom while teaching his young children, Scout and Jem, about understanding folks different from themselves. The lesson was prompted by questions from the Finch children about why a disabled man in their neighborhood, Boo Radley, was rumored to be dangerous and strange.

In a parallel story line, Atticus, an attorney, is representing a black man wrongfully accused of raping a white woman.

Atticus shares this message to remind his children that we have more compassion when we try to view the world from other perspectives outside our own.

In the coming week, people all over the U.S. will have the rare chance to climb into another’s skin, walk around in it and literally see the world from another point of view. Of course, as we carefully select our bunny ears and superhero capes, the majority of us have no intent of actually embodying the characters we will portray — it’s all fun and games.

Nevertheless, the shedding of one persona to don another — even for a short time — is a great exercise at understanding people different from ourselves.

Think back to the last time you were angry at another person. As you fought your fury and decided what to do with the emotion, would it have helped to step back and think about why this person did whatever they did to upset you?

A leadership speaker and friend of mine, Justin Maust, frequently shares the wisdom, “refuse to be offended.” Justin goes on to remind his audience that we never truly know what is going on in another person’s head — if they had a bad day, or if something had triggered them to behave the way they did. We don’t know if they struggle with communicating or have other problems on their mind.

Justin takes his advice one step further, reminding us that even if the person upsetting us has no excuse for his or her behavior and is just a jerk, we have no control over how that person is acting — but we do have control over how we react to their behavior.

My first-grade teacher used to advise that we count to five in our heads before responding to others. “Think about what you are going to say before you say it,” she advised. This tip is equally effective for adults as it is for 7-year-olds (although we may count a bit faster these days).

Whenever someone says something that incites some kind of negative knee-jerk reaction, I think back to these teachers — Harper Lee, Justin Maust, Mrs. Maager. I take a deep breath, sometimes count to five, try to walk around in the other person’s shoes — and I refuse to be offended.

It’s not always easy, but it’s always effective. The outcome is less confrontational, the resolution fairer and the emotions less exhausting.

Let’s all use the trick-or-great season as a reminder to always consider other perspectives — with or without the costumes.