Letting Go

As human beings we struggle to live in the present. Much of what we take into difficult conversations that influences our perceptions is what we have experienced in the past. Holding onto the past can make us critical, defensive and judgmental and none of these qualities makes our difficult conversations any easier.

In trainings that I do for divorcing parents I ask them how letting go of the past could be helpful. They respond by saying that it will allow them to get on with their lives, be happier, pass happiness onto their children, and heal. When asking them for the advantages of not letting go of painful things in the past I never seem to get much of a response.

Given the great benefits of letting go and the lack of a good reason to not let go, I suggest people in conflict thinking about what they need to let go of. While we may think that if we let go we are doing someone else a favor, in truth we are doing ourselves a huge favor.

(c) 2005 Cheshire Mediation. All rights reserved. You are free to use material from the Conflict Management Monday eZine in whole or part as long as you include complete attribution, including live web site link and e-mail link. Please notify Cheshire Mediation when and where the material will appear.

__________________________________________

Please feel free to pass Conflict Management Monday along to any associate you feel may benefit form this information.

To subscribe to our other publication, Great Meetings Monday, click here

To unsubscribe to this publication click the link in the right column