Reflections: How did you do this year with conflict and courage?
I’ve been reflecting on 2022 and the courage my clients and I have shown in dealing with conflict, inner and outer. As those of you who have been reading my blog for a while know, I write a lot about conflict transformation as a process, which requires courage, willingness, and persistence but never perfection!
Here are some questions I’ve been asking myself and clients as the year draws to a close. And, I invite you to think about this with compassion and tenderness. There are no wrong answers.
What were the conflicts and other difficult situations that came your way this year?
Take a deep breath and, if you choose, write or think about those situations. Then, you can reflect on your answers to these additional questions.
What did you do better or differently this year?
Accomplishments large or small all count. They could include a difficult conversation you handled more gracefully. Or gently turning away a savage inner criticism and affirming your worth instead of letting the negative message continuing to play on repeat. It could mean you practiced letting go of a resentment instead of hanging on to it with both hands. It could mean you tackled a task that scared you and got through it step by step. It could mean you chose to forgive yourself for a mistake and learn from it.
Bonus question—Were you a better, more curious and compassionate listener? This could include being curious and open to their perspective rather than judgmental, as well as accepting that there could be more than one possible story and a different truth.
Even if you did these new behaviors sometimes and forgot to practice them at other times, your progress deserves acknowledgement. Kudos!
Here are some of my accomplishments, mostly around inner conflict:
Trust, as any negotiator knows, is critical. Its presence gets commitment; its destruction sours deals. But trusting and being trusted is a delicate balance: effective negotiators know to “be trustworthy,...
By Diane J. Levin“You ain't nothing but a hound dogBeen snoopin' round my doorYou ain't nothing but a hound dogBeen snoopin' round my doorYou can wag your tailBut I ain't gonna feed...
By Charles HillYes, we are at war. But it's a different kind than some think. This is a battle for the heart and soul of humanity. If we lose, our grandchildren will...
By Ronald S. Kraybill