Confrontation: Why We Avoid It and How to Approach It

I was watching a show last night (rare), and someone spoke on confrontation which made me think about some things in my own life. If you're not one of those people who say, "I hate confrontation!", you've certainly heard someone else say it. Let's be clear: most people do NOT like it. People don't generally walk around looking for it. It's uncomfortable, you don't want to hurt another person's feelings, and you may or may not just be an overall people-pleaser. I get it. But the thing many of us don't realize is, when we avoid confronting someone about something that may bother us, or if we are unclear in our intentions about something, it will lead to an even bigger confrontation down the line - the VERY THING WE WANTED TO AVOID in the first place! Proper communication with the people in our lives is key. And believe me, I haven't arrived in this area. But I have learned a lot from past mistakes.

How many times have you gotten into a relationship with someone, to continue to let things that bother you slide because you don't want to cause drama and complain, only to eventually blow up at that person months or years later?

How many times have you not talked about an issue with a friend to one day just snap, and they're confused because they have no idea what the problem is?

The list goes on. This is definitely something I have to be conscious about, because if I'm not careful I can easily slip into old habits. But it's a very valuable lesson to share and intentionally work on. Approach it in a positive way. Look at it as a way to get closer to a person or just to be on the same page so things flow better. Confrontation doesn't have to be a negative thing. 

xo

KeetaRay