When you get older, you begin to realize just how fragile ideas and organizations are. Nothing makes this clearer to me than a discussion involving opposing views. Passionate. Forceful. Inviting. Believable. Sometimes divisive.
No matter which view you are pulled towards, the intensity of each of their logic is real.
Do they matter? Are they important?
Most certainly. Their presence challenges us to think deeper and broader about the issues we differ on. The difficulty always is what side to choose? How do we reconcile the two points of view?
Opposing views become confusing. We sometimes become emotional which then clouds our judgment. Sometime, we simply don’t want to decide for we do not want to hurt one side or the other.
What we tend to forget during this “tug of war” is that what each person believes is their reality. A reality that you can try to influence but most likely will not succeed in changing it to a great degree.
That is why when faced with opposing views that appear rigid is to step back and see what the bigger picture is. What are you trying to accomplish? What is the end result you are seeking?
You may find that neither opposing view fits as part of your solution. Or that only one side can clearly benefit you when choosing.
The trouble in life is that we never get a chance to get this far. We get too wrapped up in either our emotions or in their story. Opposing views are so challenging that we sometimes become paralyzed by them.
We rarely take time to define our destination. Making this mistake far exceeds the conflict that opposing views cause and our ability to choose between them or transcend above them.
We need to know what we are trying to accomplish or where we want to get to to then be able to judge which (if either) opposing view will be helpful. It makes it so much easier to navigate the created conflict that opposing views sometimes cause.
These conflicts created by opposing views can damage and destroy especially when no one is clear on the destination. When this happens, the ideas and organizations we participate in become weak and fragile.
If only we could remember to choose after we decide or remind ourselves where it is we would like to get to. Getting an agreement on the destination first helps make things so much easier.