CONFLICTS CAN BE AVOIDED!We get into conflicts with other people because of us, not them. We can walk away from circumstances that are beginning to boil. We can decide that feeling peaceful is MORE important than forcing an opinion on someone else.
And we can choose to seek God’s guidance in every tense situation. Making these choices get easier with practice, but at first we can’t imagine not having the last word.Many of us have TOO much invested in being RIGHT. Perhaps we think our worth relies on others’ agreeing with our opinions. If we use the right words, a really GOOD argument, we CAN sway their opinion, we hope. Sometimes we are successful!
Unfortunately, that fuels our fire to push our opinion the next time, too. Deciding to ACCEPT that all people have a right to their opinion is a BIG change for us. Coming to believe that each of us is on a UNIQUE journey helps us make that decision.
“Today I’ll walk away from every opportunity to argue with someone. The other person’s perspective is as valid as my own.”
– Karen Casey
We can agree to disagree. Whenever we find ourselves in conflict, we can ask ourselves, “WHAT IS IT THAT I’M AFRAID OF?” It is a question to ponder EVERY time we aren’t feeling LOVE & PEACE. It is the underlying emotion of guilt, shame, anger and ALL the emotions that aren’t love. When u CAN answer the question AND have a discussion around that, many times the conflict CAN be resolved.When I am having a conflict/argument with someone else, I have a hard time with not getting the LAST word in and when the other person keeps adding their “two cents” in also, it’s harder to drop the argument.
My mother had always told me to just WALK away cuz this is one way to end a conflict. The other way to avoid a conflict is to NOT engage with the other person. If I don’t react cuz they’re looking for a reaction, then the conflict can’t continue. I have learned that I have the CHOICE of deciding what “battles” are worth fighting to the end and what aren’t as important to fight.
By choosing my battles, I am able to make a BETTER choice that is a POSITIVE one also and it makes me feel better knowing that what I was arguing my point about or not, I had accomplished my mission.ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT YOU HAVE A CHOICE IN WHATEVER YOU DO AND/OR SAY! 🙂
