Who's up for a challenge?! When faced with a conflict, meet it with compassion.
Here's how:
breathe
smile
seek understanding
These three simple steps help to soften and release our attachments to our own understanding and create space for conflict resolution. Surely, it is easy to become upset, hurt, and perhaps even angry when we feel as though something has gone wrong and it is okay to have these emotions. These are natural human responses that allow us to navigate our beliefs and thoughts in order to determine how we will actively respond. What is unhealthy, is to hold on to these emotions which will in return create energetic blocks within our physical and mental bodies, ultimately hindering and/or impairing the way we actively respond. More importantly, how we react is what makes all the difference in how we are able to move forward in any given situation.
Practicing compassion may be thought of as a form of ignoring the issue or merely giving up when, in fact, it is the exact opposite. Practicing compassion is a practice that enables us to be our best selves and requires a great amount of courage. Culturally, many of us are conditioned to create rigid boundaries as an attempt to protect ourselves and our loved ones from harm while, in reality, we tend to do more harm than good in doing so. We become limited by our own perception thus limiting our ability to grow and when we stop growing, the inevitable occurs.
Furthermore, while compassion is often thought of as an awareness towards another being, many of us [the entire human population] tend to neglect ourselves as one of those beings to receive compassion, especially as an expression from our own selves. While unwilling to accept conflict from others, we present ourselves with conflict every time we put ourselves to shame or view ourselves as inadequate. While we may demand to be seen, heard and understood by our peers we often drop the ball when it comes to seeing, hearing, and understanding ourselves. If you do not believe me, begin to implement a greater awareness towards your own actions and why you do the things you do. For example, when you leave your home to go to work, are you looking forward to all the things you can accomplish once you arrive? Or are you thinking of what you would rather be doing instead? This example presents a perspective on how we may or may not be depriving ourselves through our own beliefs. Essentially, how we treat ourselves is how we often tend to treat others and this dis-ease is one that is overlooked when we expect from others what we fail to give to ourselves.
Just for today, implement one random act of kindness for yourself and one random act of kindness for someone else. Perhaps instead of racing to get home to tackle more tasks after work, be present within your trip. Maybe, take a longer route while listening to your favorite music artist or even take a moment to pull over and enjoy a few minutes of silence and fresh air. Maybe, also on your way home, you could practice mindfulness on the road and be the one who pardons another driver. Whatever you decide, in this simple experiment notice how your energy and overall mood shifts. Also notice the shift in the energy of the people around you.