Relationship Challenge

What do you find challenging in relationships -- not just romantic ones, but all kinds, like friendships and people you work with?

For me the hardest one is the choice to say something to someone knowing full well they won't like it and may find it painful, or be a total hypocrite. Usually I can just let it go. I'm not the boss of the universe or anyone but my dear cleaning lady for 3 hours every other week. But sometimes, if you do not speak up you will have to relinquish something you value deeply or put up with something destructive. Give up or risk the lash-back scenario, the loss of a relationship, or having someone set out to destroy your reputation? It is not so easy.

We all face those choices. How do you deal with them?

I've opted to say my piece as kindly as I could in a couple of instances when the choice seemed like doing that or taking a long drink of slow working poison. It was hard, really hard -- the consequences long and drawn out. The result in self-respect and closer connections are worth it.

Connecting with our fellow-beings presents such possibilities for joy and pain. At the first (and probably last) Breakout Coach Training last week, we amazed ourselves with the complexity and power of the barriers we have built between us and our fellow beings. We broke out from many of our privately run prisons of isolation to an outpouring of love and creativity.

What is a relationship challenge for you? How do you deal with it?

Connecting with love,
Mandy