I have an A so far. Not bragging, (ok, maybe a LITTLE, an A, an A!) just stating fact. This conflict stuff at my house is what I'd call perfect timing.
The big difference is me.
5 years ago, I couldn't have done any of this. None of it. I couldn't handle conflict. Avoided it like the plague. OR, worse, If I found myself in conflict, I'd jump in with both feet and battle til the cows come home, especially if I thought I was right.
Conflict is a daily part of life. I've never handled it correctly. I've avoided and blown up. Avoided and blown up. Pretty healthy.
But ever since I've gotten older, or even better, ever since I've become intimately acquainted with God, I feel like I am able to handle conflict on a better, deeper level.
God put me in a bunch of tough situations in the last 5 years, and He refined me by fire. I've learned it's not my job to BE MAD, or REACT, or GET EVEN, it's my job to simply get through it, in tact, with the other person's feeling in tact, and feel ok when it's over.
That's a tough road to walk when you've not lived that way, or been taught that way.
I want to be different. I long to be able to look at an antagonizer in the face, and say, "Yes, your opinion is important, but it is different from mine. And that's ok, we don't have to be at odds because of it".
Wouldn't life be far easier?
This class has taught me to be calm, and assess. Really understand what the other person is trying to say, and mainly, take a deep breath, and figure out what is the most important thing about to happen.
Life is about being intentional....and that includes conflict.
Fight fair, not for blood.
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