Showing posts with label
family relationships friends children love communication attitude disagreements anger love.
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Showing posts with label
family relationships friends children love communication attitude disagreements anger love.
Show all posts
"Love is as necessary to human beings as food and shelter;but without intelligence love is impotent, and freedom unattainable." Aldous Leonard Huxley
How many times have we quarreled with a friend or family member and repeated the words, "That's not what I mean." We get so frustrated trying to think of a way to phrase what we wanted or meant to say that we at times lose our train of thought or worse we blurt out words that make it all worse. Trying to take back what we said is not as easy as it is to voice the words originally spoken.
I would venture to say we have all been in this situation at least once but probably many times. Maybe people enjoy catching us in such a harrowing situation. They at times set us up and enjoy seeing us squirm our way out. Of course the harder we try squirming, the guiltier we appear. It really becomes more aggravating when the other party refuses to give us a break and back off. Instead they continue their shocked and hurt look which adds to our misery, drains our effort, confuses our thinking, and enhances our guilt regardless of the truth. Many times our energy depletes which forces us to give up and accept our losses.
Those of us who plod forward step in it so to speak and then wish we had cut our losses. How do we fix such problems? Connections to friends and relatives is important to us. Full of adrenalin due to the encounter, we retreat but our day is ruined and until the other person forgives us for what we didn't do, our life ends up on hold. Personally I think if we venture a call on them our first words might be, "I'm sorry if you misunderstood what I said. Knowing me so well I assumed you would understand I would never want to deliberately hurt you." Surprisingly if the combative person retorts with "I know, it's okay." You may have to reply with, "It's not okay if you believe a falsehood."
Otherwise our relative or friend thinks they caught us in some weird truth but they forgave us. I know depending on our disposition, we may cause another argument. If we are prepared we will possibly avoid any traps. In this way our opponent at this current time will be prompted to accept some blame in the situation. We may modify the course of a similar happening for misconception in a future exchange of words. Thinking like a chess player may save us from an imminent transgression. The key in all of this is to keep your voice calm, your tone non-judgmental and your heart and thoughts sincere.
We do have differing states of mind in any given moment and just maybe what is said one day may be totally acceptable by another person but on a separate day that person has an altered reaction. We all experience days of insecurity and sensitivity. refraining from any controversial topic may be the order of the day.
If we step into the mistake of giving a false impression UNINTENTIONALLY, then patience on that day and possibly a future day may be required. But you need to ask yourself isn't that person worth it in the end? I believe so and that means more time patience and effort but they are worth it and so are we when the roles get reversed which they most likely will.
"The degree of one's emotion varies inversely with one's knowledge of the facts. The less you know the hotter you get." Anonymous
"Act as if what you do makes a difference, it does." William James
Yes on any given day I can come up with a million excuses to avoid doing anything. I would venture to say I am not alone. It is clearly a problem because it keeps me from interactions with others, accomplishing jobs I had set as goals for the day, completing and making deadlines set by others, and living up to promises I made to friends and family.
I don't intentionally plan on skipping things I should do. Now that is a pardon for me to feel better. There are definitely times when our justifications are real and not so much a coping out as an they are a real obstacle preventing us from doing what we should do. No criticism intended but gaining a handle on excuses allows us to accomplish so much more. We don't call the friend because we are watching a good TV show or checking our e-mails or sitting on the couch without having to think or talk about anything.
At work, we find something boring or so difficult it is impossible to begin. At home our tasks always take longer than what we think and we know this and simply don't want to get started in the first place. The luxury of doing nothing seems to be given only at times when we are sick. Of course at these times we can't enjoy this free time because we don't feel well. Some of us use others to escape work effort and responsibility. A divorced father can escape his obligations by acknowledging his wife doesn't permit him to see the kids which may be true. what a relief. No lost time or effort on his part and no guilt. A headache or cold ought to alleviate our helping with the household tasks even if we are feeling a bit better. We can take another day. I am guilty of many of these affairs myself. I know I would be further along with my jobs if I tackled them without thought just responsibility. Some tasks are important like our kids. We need to separate what counts from counting what tasks are waiting. Kids can't wait. They desperately need us and after all we are their parents. So if I can't bend over as much due to a leg injury I can still kick that ball back to my kid and let them toss it again. I can still be there to talk or listen or watch the world around us evolving. That's final no exoneration, I need to go and take care of what matters most.
"Things that matter most should never be at the mercy of things which matter least." Johann Van Goethe
"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen." Herbert Prochnow
How many times have we said to a spouse, child, sibling, friend or co-worker, "Will you just listen for a second?" We are all so guilty of assuming what it is the person is going to say or defend. It is one of the most frustrating attempts at communication when another human being, won't allow us the time to say what we are desperately trying to say. Of course those of us who do permit another to have their say find out quickly that the courtesy is not returned. It can and does happen on either end. Sadly for all of us, we get nowhere in our communication attempts. We do promote anger, frustration, anxiety, resentment, loud voices, feelings of guilt, a variety of illnesses and sleepless nights. Neither party is exempt from the results of the break in communication. major point is if we learn from the harrowing experience when our train is back on the tracks. I would venture to say we repeat the interaction in the near future. I am wondering what it is in human nature that refrains us from listening when we are in disagreement. It's as if we are doing battle and we are determined to win. I think we ought to realize just what it is that we have accomplished and won.
Maybe it has to do with the times in childhood when we had to do what our parents said regardless of right or wrong. We learned to listen under duress of punishment. Maybe it has to do with school when we were caught between the teacher and our parent, or the times our sibling was stretching the truth and the louder voice was heard, or maybe we just get tired of everyone at work telling us what to do. Whatever the reason for our irrationality , we don't give in. A moment of silence and quiet listening may bring some insight upon the situation and allow for understanding and communication. The result is maintaining a compromise with both sides preserving their pride intact. It becomes effortless to listen with practice. Fostering an exchange of ideas makes learning easier and provides a template for a more trouble-free relationship.
"Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved with understanding."
