Flexibility

"Bend it don't break it!"

Finding a way to 'get along' without

compromising individual needs and rights

is a tough fit.

Pretty much everyone has an agenda

that doesn't include your well-being,

and it is every person for themselves.

(Don't let anyone's smile or deftness

fool ya otherwise!)

But allowing for people's inadequacies,

inconsistencies, idiocies, illnesses, and

illogic can be taxing if we take it on a

case-by-case or specifics basis.

For self-preservation, the art of being

cool about stuff is a time-saver and a

stress-saver. You can't change most

things, so keeping your condemnation

secret and keeping your comments

restrained is possibly the best way to

avert conflict.

Yeah, sometimes conflict is needed to

protect your boundaries and lay things out

straight for folks, but not as an every-day

all-day venting.

Wanting things a certain way and

expecting things to turn out a certain way

are two completely different ball parks.

Choosing between them, and recognizing

that there is not always going to be

reconciliation, is a step towards peace.

The choice to avoid craziness and conflict is

taking power and remaining in control.

Not everything works out how we want;

how we respond to that reality is the maker

of new worlds.

***