"A healthy relationship is a feast of affection and giving for both people; not one receiving crumbs and trying to convince themselves it's enough." ~ Shannon Thomas
I invite you to consider that the person that you are having a conflict with represents a lesson you need to learn. Understanding this advances your maturity and your confidence. When you are stuck in a conflict with another person, you can come to understand on a subconscious level, you are also stuck in a conflict within.
As you deepen respect for yourself and the person you are not getting along with, you will know when to stay and work out your relationship difficulties and when to temporarily or permanently leave a relationship for your emotional well-being and/or safety.
You do not need to sacrifice or enslave yourself to a relationship that is demeaning, demoralizing or abusing you, but you can choose to see how all outer conflicts reflect your deepest conflicts within. Once you do, you will intuitively know the way forward in your life and in your relationship difficulties.
Exercise
1. I invite you to make the choice to respect both sides in a conflict that you are having with a person who is upsetting you.
a. Describe your side of the relationship conflict.
b. What do you think the other person's side of the relationship conflict is?
2. Can you see a win-win solution to this conflict? If yes, what is the win-win?
3. Is this conflict a win-lose? If so, how? If you feel like you are losing, what precious personal values are you not willing to compromise?
4. Win-win or win-lose, what do you sense is the main lesson that you need to learn in this relationship conflict?
5. How does this relational conflict mirror an inner conflict that you struggle with? If you do not yet know, make an intuitive guess.
This complimentary first lesson is from my 30 day-course, Healing Through Difficult Relationships.
With love,
Shelley
