Disagreements

We all have them. From as early as a tod­dler there were dis­agree­ments. It could have been when another tod­dler took a favorite toy away. You most cer­tainly dis­agreed. Each of you felt dif­fer­ently about just whose toy that was and so an exchange of words hap­pened. Granted it may not have been very artic­u­late, prob­a­bly more fin­ger point­ing and scream­ing than any­thing else. It was strictly an emo­tion based response but none the less it was a disagreement.

Fast for­ward to today. No longer a child prone to tem­per tantrums but an adult who has all of their life expe­ri­ence and ratio­nal to for­mu­late a fair exchange. Dis­agree­ments are prob­a­bly based around rea­son­ing, facts, past his­tory, cur­rent knowl­edge and not strictly emo­tion based. Of course there is always an ele­ment of emo­tion to a dis­agree­ment or else it would be called some­thing else.

What hap­pens when the tem­per tantrum prone child breaks out in the rea­son­able adult dur­ing a dis­agree­ment? It’s never pretty and always regret­table. Olive branches are extended, apolo­gies are made and then for­give­ness. While the moment can never be erased and rela­tion­ships con­tinue, there is a sad­ness to the whole exchange. It leaves a flat spot in an oth­er­wise beau­ti­ful landscape.

Tags: disagreements, forgiveness