Three Truths to Quickly Cure COVID Contention (and every other disagreement)

(<2 ½ minute read time)

Wowzas there are a wide variety of opinions out there these days right?

Today, we are going to talk about how to deal with those opinions that are so vastly different from your own.   I’m also going to share some of my own thought work that recently helped me feel tremendously better about those who have triggered me.

If you’ve got someone in your life – a relative, a colleague, a friend who’s thinking about the virus situation (or anything) in a very different way than you, well, you’ve come to the right place.  

There’s Three Truths to feeling better about that trigger person.  

When I acknowledge these Three Truths, I gain the power to change things even if the other person never changes at all.  

I do not have to get them to “be reasonable” and see it my way.  

I do not have to conform to a perspective I wholeheartedly disagree with.  

And, I can still maintain a productive relationship with that person while we each have contradicting views.  Sound dreamy? Read on… 

But first, a short note… If you have some fundamental concerns about any of The Three Truths, click on the hyperlinks to explore each at a deeper level.      

Step 1) Other people don’t make me feel anything 

Step 2) I have complete authority of my thoughts and feelings at all times

Step 3) I can allow other people to choose to think and feel whatever way they want to – and their choice does not have to negatively affect me (see Step 1)  

Recently, I’d been thinking about those in my personal life who are angry, irritable and complaining about the way life is right now.  I was feeling super frustrated by this kind of response to the virus implications. I thought “They just want to be angry & resentful”.  Which, even if true, only perpetuated my frustration… And, it ultimately led me to complaining about the complainers!      

As I applied the three truths I was reminded that we are all “human-ing” right now.  Their response to this is as human as mine. Neither of us is doing things perfectly.  From there I chose to ask myself a great question and now I’m using it every single time I feel “triggered”…  “What can I give to this situation other than my staunch opinion?”

Ultimately, it’s about being able to make decisions we feel good about without creating unnecessary angst when others make a different decision.  It’s allowing them to be who they are, which people are going to do anyway – with or without our permission.

Perhaps you are in a similar situation?  Maybe you’re even spending a LOT more time with a person who sees things very differently.  I can definitely help, let’s chat.