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Do these ten things to have better conversations

We all have arguments and disagreements. It seems to me in the past, we have decided to stop having uncomfortable conversations because they typically go wrong. Here are ten skills that you can start incorporating into difficult conversations right away. I believe they will help us all have better difficult conversations. Seek to understand the…

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Those who disagree with us are not our enemies.

We have to develop the ability to hold two things in our minds at once.  I pray that we return to being people who value questions. We need to step away from our identity politics and embrace that those who disagree with us are also people just like us.  We have to fight against our normal nature of craving certainty. Certainty is good until it becomes the thing destroying us.  There is no such thing as a life or a relationship without danger and disagreement.

We must distinguish between disagreement and attack

There was an ancient writer who wrote that we should only allow words to come out of our mouths that will build others up and benefit those that are listening. I dream of a society where that is the normal way. When we dismiss everything that disagrees with us as an attack, we are giving away the opportunity to benefit all those who listen to us.

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You probably don’t need to improve your communication

There is something of a joke amongst marriage and relationship therapists. Everyone we meet, regardless of what is going on in their marriage, just needs to improve their communication. Domestic Violence? Just help us improve our communication. Infidelity? Just help us improve our communication. Financial Issues? Just help us improve our communication. Criminal Enterprise? Just…

Grieving in a time of grief.

So today, take a moment and think about people you know who are grieving over something other than the disruption this virus has caused in our world.  I know those are the people who would have been on Marissa’s mind today. 
Do something for them today. Write them a letter or email (you might have to google how to do this safely). Reach out to someone you know who might be missing someone today.
Then go and hug your loved ones living in your house. Tell them how much you love them.
None of us know what tomorrow holds.