Ignore Potential Conflicts Away

Conflicts, both verbal and physical, are part of our daily lives.  It takes quite a toll on us.  We may not want to be in a conflict situation and we may ourselves be peace-loving, gentle folks, but generally conflicts are initiated by the opposite person and we end up as participants ourselves.  At the end of every conflict (that ends badly especially), we wish that we hadn’t involved ourselves in the first place.  Hindsight though hardly helps, when the damage has already been done – to relationships, career advancements, and what have you.

Well, I’ve been through the same experience myself.  There have been times when I’ve been involved in ugly spats with parents, friends and colleagues and ended up an emotional mess.  Sometimes, things have gotten serious and verbal outbursts had turned into physical fights.  So, conflicts most definitely don’t do you any good.  Can you therefore stop yourself from getting sucked into conflicts?  I think – yes!! 

The first part of my life, I responded to conflicts impulsively.  That is to say, I went with the flow.  There was no thinking involved.  However, gradually I developed the concept of “ignoring” my way out of potential conflicts.  Basically, I wouldn’t respond to anything offensive directed at me.  I would walk away.  I would pretend not to hear.  I would be quiet.  Invariably, this response shamed my opponents.  They’d shout and my quietness just amplified their voices that much more.  After a few minutes, they’d just hear themselves rave and rant.  Obviously, they’d stop at this point – having embarrassed themselves quite thoroughly.

So, ignoring/not responding to verbal taunts does help.  There are so many instances where verbal outbursts lead to physical confrontations.  You might even get killed if the person you are arguing with has a shorter fuse than you bargained for.  Ignoring doesn’t take much effort.  You might be called a coward, etc, but really who do you have to prove your bravery to?  No one.  You know who you are.  So, why bother and give them the occasion to draw you into a conflict.

Don’t let others draw you into conflicts.  You can determine whether or not you want to get into conflict situations.  Exercise your option to ignore and stay away from conflicts.