“We can not solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.” – Albert Einstein
This writing started as a cathartic “note to [a very disheartened] self”. 🤔✍️
“In the end, the aggressors always destroy themselves, making way for others who know how to cooperate and get along. Life is much less a competitive struggle for survival than a triumph of cooperation and creativity.” – Fritjof Capra
In the aftermath of the attempted assassination, as we flipped through the channels to gather the perspectives of the different news sources, with few exceptions, I heard the familiar, but heartbreaking cries and descriptions of chaos and injury, followed by the resulting pleas for peace and unity in our great nation. 😨😢
“Do not think of knocking out another person’s brains because he differs in opinion from you. It would be as rational to knock yourself on the head because you differ from yourself ten years ago.” – Horace Mann
Peace and good conversation – two things we all crave but often struggle to find. As discussed in the article, Kindness, Equity, and the Mental Health Crisis: The View from this Nurse’s Window, in today’s world, it’s easy to get swept away by a torrent of negativity. Inflammatory memes, comments fueled by bad feelings, and narratives spun from thin air can drown out the voices of reason and understanding. 🙈🙉🙊
“When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion.” – Dale Carnegie
I hope you would agree that each of us can and must do better for ourselves, our families, our communities, and our country. 👪🗺️
“There are two ways of meeting difficulties: You alter the difficulties or you alter yourself meeting them.” – Phyllis Bottome
The key to fostering peace and good conversation lies in stepping away from the emotional firestorm. Reacting to negativity only fuels the flames. The key to fostering peace and good conversation lies in stepping away from the emotional firestorm. Reacting to negativity only fuels the flames. (Repeat for effect.) ❤️🔥
“Conflict cannot survive without your participation.” – Wayne Dyer
Be wary of foreign interference. 🕵️ Many sources of negativity, designed to divide us, can originate from outside our borders. We need to be vigilant and discerning about the information with which we’re bombarded. The identity of the originator of a post or meme is readily accessible- just l👁️👁️k.
“I’ve always believed that a lot of the troubles in the world would disappear if we were talking to each other instead of about each other.” – Ronald Reagan
🔎Instead, let’s commit to dealing in facts, not fiction. Seek out reliable sources, question everything, and have a healthy dose of skepticism when confronted with sensationalized content. 🤨
“The Law of Win/Win says, ‘Let’s not do it your way or my way; let’s do it the best way’.” – Greg Anderson
🗞️Be a critical consumer of information, not a passive target for manipulation.
“Every conflict we face in life is rich with positive and negative potential. It can be a source of inspiration, enlightenment, learning, transformation, and growth-or rage, fear, shame, entrapment, and resistance. The choice is not up to our opponents, but to us, and our willingness to face and work through them.” – Kenneth Cloke and Joan Goldsmith
☮️But most importantly, let’s cultivate a genuine desire to come together. Instead of seeking differences to exploit, let’s focus on the common ground we share as human beings.🕊️
“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other”. – Mother Teresa
Here’s how we can cultivate this approach:
- 🧑🏿🤝🧑🏼Be a good listener. Actively hear what others are saying, even if you disagree with them. Try to understand their perspective. 🎧
“When people respond too quickly, they often respond to the wrong issue. Listening helps us focus on the heart of the conflict. When we listen, understand, and respect each other’s ideas, we can then find a solution in which both of us are winners.” – Dr. Gary Chapman
- 🩰Practice empathy. Put yourself in someone else’s shoes. What are their concerns and experiences? 😖
“There is a psychological law that says: Appreciate and you prosper; belittle and you lose.Unless we learn to apply this law, as psychological as it is spiritual, we’re doomed to an existence of mediocrity, frustration, and defeat. Appreciation is no simple, vague theme. Appreciation is a real force. It is governed by a principle almost as direct as a law of physics: We draw to ourselves the good of everything we appreciate.” – David Goodman
- 🧑⚕️Ask questions thoughtfully. Seek clarification, not confrontation.
“Don’t ever take a fence down until you know why it was put up.” – Robert Frost
- 🤝Focus on solutions, not blame. How can we move forward together, constructively?
“The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value. I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.” – Thomas Paine
- 🙇Promote respectful dialogue. Avoid personal attacks and focus on the issue at hand.
“There are three ways of dealing with difference: domination, compromise, and integration. By domination only one side gets what it wants; by compromise neither side gets what it wants; by integration we find a way by which both sides may get what they wish.” – Mary Parker Follett
🕯️Remember, peace doesn’t happen by accident. It requires active effort. By rejecting negativity, seeking facts, and prioritizing understanding, we can create a space for meaningful conversation. Let’s choose to be bridges, not walls.🌉
“A man will fight harder for his interests than for his rights.” – Napoleon Bonaparte
“It’s so much easier to suggest solutions when you don’t know too much about the problem.” – Malcolm Forbes
Let’s move past the manufactured outrage and build a future where peace and good conversation are not luxuries, but the norm.
“Whenever two good people argue over principles, they are both right.” – Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach
“Instead of hating the people you think are war-makers, hate the appetites and disorder in your own soul, which are the causes of war. If you love peace, then hate injustice, hate tyranny, hate greed – but hate these things in yourself, not in another.” ― Thomas Merton
(With thanks to: https://www.deliberatedirections.com/quotes-conflict-management/)
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