Disagreement

Here is one thing I do not like: when people disagree with me. I feel like what I say makes sense, is logical and reasonable, and comes from sound judgement. (I can just see any one who knows me who is reading this is laughing out loud right now.) What is there to disagree with? Nevertheless, people do disagree with me at times. People do not share my perspective on things a good deal of the time. I do not like that. Interestingly, I do not mind disagreeing with others for all the reasons I stated earlier. I just do not like it when folks disagree with me. Why is that? Am I the only one feels this way? I do not think so. (I assume no one disagrees with that.)

Viewpoints are such personal things. We put forth an opinion on most any topic and view what we have just said as being undeniably right. It represents a piece of who we are. Regardless if the topic is climate change, whether two pieces of clothing match or which painting is nicer, the perspective we put forth comes from a lifetime of thought and experience. Even if we do not have the facts at our disposal to support our view, we have little doubt what we say and think is anything less than spot-on. Yet when another either offers a different point of view or takes exception to our notion, it does not feel good.

This kind of scenario points to a real challenge of communication: offering a personal opinion in a dispassionate way. By that I mean sharing a personal view while being comfortable with the reality that when others do not see things the way we do, it is not a comment on us as a person. They are simply not agreeing with our perspective or conclusion about a particular matter. Accepting that reality may seem easy enough, but the fact is it can be pretty tough to do so. After all, look at how often people argue. Being objective while being subjective is one of the biggest hurdles we all face when it comes to communicating.