Facing Conflict - Strategies And Perspectives To Help You Keep To Your Heart In Tough Situations
Are you regularly or even sometimes facing conflict with others? Maybe you are passionate about something that most people just wouldn't understand. Maybe you have beliefs that others, because of their past experiences, tend to judge and criticize.
Maybe you have a career that you find very fulfilling and meaningful, but because it isn't considered ethical or legitimate by some people or organizations, you receive unwanted negative reactions.
Just by the act of reading this article right now, in some people's eyes, you are immediately put into the category of "outside of the norm." Even though the Institute's mission is to help as may people as possible, in the most effective way possible, and in the shortest amount of time, many of the perspectives we share are considered controversial.
Because of this, there are many people and organizations that would like to see us or anyone involved with us put out of commission.
Through spending most of my life pursuing humanitarian endeavors, I have been joyfully surrounded by others passionately following their own truth from deep within their own hearts. Most of these people who were my colleagues, friends, and mentors were also committed to benefiting others along with the planet.
On the flip side, I have seen and heard countless stories from those close to me of verbal attacks, cut brake lines, and death threats, carried out by greedy corporations, opposing politicians, and religious fanatics.
"Great spirits will always encounter violent opposition from mediocre minds."
Albert Einstein
A dear friend of mine, who is an Adviser to the United Nations, a long time humanitarian, activists and lobbyist, once shared his philosophy to me:
If you do something really different, most people will not like you
If you do something different and you are good at it, people will try to stop you.
If you do something different and you are good at it and it has a large effect on a community, country, etc, people will try to kill you.
Despite the conflict we may receive from others, we have to maintain a healthy balance between being overly guarded and being too open-minded. We have to hold our own ground while at the same time at least considering the perspectives of others. Being able to take helpful advice makes our lives a lot easier.
We also have to be careful about expecting conflict from others. The mere act of expecting it only attracts more of it to us. It's good to be aware of the simple fact that certain beliefs and lifestyle choices "may" increase your probability of encountering conflict.
If you are actually taking an intelligent approach in your beliefs and decisions, I encourage you to stick to what you feel in your heart is the truth for you and live in a way that represents that truth. I encourage and challenge you to do this regardless of the judgments, lack of support, ridicule, belittlement, and outright hostility that you may encounter from others.
Stay true to yourself and follow in the tracks of Aristotle, Gandhi, Pasteur, Lincoln, Malcolm X, Einstein and all of the other great minds that have made their mark despite the conflict.
Actions You Can Take To Help You In Facing Conflict From Others
Brainstorm for some ways that you can find more people who are of like mind and take immediate steps towards surrounding yourself with these people.
Pay attention to your actions and determine how you may be able to "choose your battles" more wisely. For example, consider discussing controversial issues only with people that are supportive and have respect for your perspectives.
If you are intent on expressing yourself openly, at least be prepared for the potential consequences that you may face.
Come up with some perspectives to guard yourself mentally, emotionally, and energetically from outside negative influences such as an affirmation like "your opinion of me is none of my business.
Get some specialized training that gives you the tools to deal with outside conflict.
The LifeLeap Academy contains some excellent field-tested methods for effectively facing conflict and breaking the manipulations that others try to control you with.
