Sunday, October 6, 2013

THISS WWWEEEEEEEEKKKKK



Can I think of any disagreements or conflicts I’ve encountered lately?
I think the question should really be which one of the conflicts I’ve encountered just today, am I willing to share…
            This week my roommate and I got into a huge disagreement… Because the argument was over an issue that has been a theme for a year now I have decided to employ the ‘escapist’ strategy (O’Hair & Wiemann, 2012, p. 236) because I truly believe part of being an effective communicator is knowing when the strategies you are employing do not work for someone.  I have tried bargaining, compromising, reasoning, and even taken on responsibility all to myself in order to keep peace.  When someone fails to respect those around him, he will always fail to empathize or sympathize with them as a result all the bargaining and compromising will fall to deaf ears.  Explaining why I am choosing the escapist strategy because I feel like it is wasted energy… I have grown completely indifferent to the situation and care to avoid it at all cost… Nonetheless I feel like I should ask… Am I giving up? Is there a solution to the issue that I have not considered?
This week we also got to celebrate our 5 year reunion (Graduated from Vanderbilt University 5 year ago) so naturally there are many many friends in town celebrating this momentous event with me.  With that comes many questions: “Where do we eat lunch? Should we do brunch instead and where? What time are we doing brunch? Who’s going to the football game?  What other homecoming event is everyone attending? How many people are doing this? Etc… The larger the group of people interacting, the more conflict opportunities and with each I have to choose to challenge or cooperate. (O’Hair & Wiemann, 2012, p. 236)  I always attempt to challenge and/or cooperate in a respectable manner, respond in a timely fashion, and reciprocate any courtesy extended to me. (NVC, n.d.)
Personally, conflict does not scare me… I welcome it because it teaches me how to treat those around me and how others should treat me.  I always appreciate someone communicating an issue with me so we can solve it rather than address with someone else.  If the issue is with me, I can guarantee I will have more insight into what I am thinking than anyone else J
References
O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.
The Center for Nonviolent Communication. (n.d.). The center for nonviolent communication. Retrieved from http://www.cnvc.org/

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