Have you ever said, "My job (or life) would be so much easier if I didn't have to deal with people.?" It may be true, but also impossible. People are the best and the worst, right? And sometimes both at the same time!
News Flash: Relationships are difficult.
We may not know how to navigate conflicts and difficulty in relationships because we don't get training on such things apart from our own experience.
So how can we be a good spouse and friend when the other person is being difficult?
How can we be helpful to someone in their relationships when their problems don't involve you?
Part of the answer is to be better at being good to ourselves. Fix your own oxygen mask before helping another with theirs. Stop believing the lies we tell ourselves. Stop keeping score of all the hard and negative things and letting that drive our outlook. Be careful about believing the victim mentality and staying stuck there because we are used to it.
Addressing conflict and difficulty in relationships is really hard in part because it makes us uncomfortable. We prefer comfort over change.
We are challenged to:
-have hard conversations
-to set expectations and 'rules of engagement'
-to believe the best possible intention in the communication from the other
-to ask clarifying questions in communication to ensure messages sent are received as intended Hopefully this conversation encourages you to consider your relationships and how you can take action to make them better.