You're in the middle of a terrible argument, and everyone turns to you to help resolve it. How do you respond? How do you react to conflict?I am terribly inept at individual conflict resolution. In fact, conflict, in general, makes me kind of squirrelly. I avoid conflict at almost any cost. That means I swallow my emotions a lot of the time. I very rarely ever seek out conflict, and when it seeks me, I hide. So, if someone were to engage in direct conflict with me on a one-to-one basis, I would probably shut down.
However, when I am in a group situation, I always step up and take a very specific role- I am the peacemaker. I always have been, and I suspect I always will be. I usually try to diffuse a situation, encouraging people to take a step back and view the facts in an objective manner. Arguments get ugly because emotions are used as weapons. But by replacing emotion with fact, things tend to calm down a bit, opening the doors to discussion, compromise, and resolution. I actually was put in just such a position recently. My response was to maintain a cool head, point out factual errors, and to encourage all parties involved to remain calm.
However, I think that I have a different viewpoint of resolution than most. People assume a fight is resolved when all parties are in agreement, but sometimes, agreement is not possible, or even necessary. A conflict can be resolved without either party changing their initial opinions, but instead coming to a place of mutual respect and acknowledgement of those differences.
But sometimes, what I really want to do is slap the taste out of someone's mouth. Too bad that won't accomplish anything.
Good lord, I hope all these writing prompt responses are not so boring and practical!!!
