Jeez I feel a bit emotionally drained!
As a result of attending the BLM protest yesterday and my subsequent post I have invited a number of comments and inboxes.
I welcome this, as per my post I feel we need to have the difficult and uncomfortable conversations but…
They are tough!
They are fraught with emotion-
Anger
Hurt
Injustice
To name a few…
We all have a different map of the world based on our own unique experiences and the belief systems we have been exposed to as kids and as adults.
No two people will ever have the same view.
My plea to everyone of us, myself included is this…
• Breath
• Respond rather than react
• Ask questions – why would someone think like that? Why would someone say that? Why would someone act that way?
• Think about how we communicate – will the person I’m speaking to be able to take my message on board if I use this tone or language? How is the person responding throughout the conversation? How can I adapt so that they can more easily hear what I have to say?
• Question our intentions – am I wanting the person I’m speaking with to say I’m right and they are wrong? Or am I looking for mutual ground so that we can both learn and move forward to create positive change?
• Ask – how am I feeling right now? Am I feeling very emotional about this? Would it be better for me to take a breather and then come back to this?
They can be hard conversations but we need to have them and the more we have them the easier they will become.
Let’s have them as kindly as possible ❤️
