HOW TO BE KIND TO DIFFICULT PEOPLE –
A MINI-COURSE
- getting started (part one)
One thing I'm asked, over and over again, is how to deal with difficult people while being kind. As we move forward, we all need to refresh our skills in dealing with difficult people -- even if the difficult person is you.
Grab a cup of your favorite beverage and let's get started with two simple facts:
1. Some people are difficult. There is no "best way" to deal with them. There's no way to cheer them up or help them be less angry. That's work they have to do on themselves; not work you can do on them.
The only way to be kind to these folks is to accept them as they are. Period. Can you accept that they are grumpy? Of course you can. Accepting them allows you to get on with your day.
There is a caveat here – not everyone is safe to be around. Use care with the grumpy as they can be heavily armed and paranoid.
2. We live in a time when we're constantly determining who's "good" and who is not. Our gut response to disown/reject the difficult person. This is exactly the wrong response.
Rejection can be deadly -- to you and to the person. We'll talk a lot more about this, but I wanted to plant the seed that we need to stop rejecting people.
Okay, that's a lot to take in. If you have questions or thoughts, let's talk about it. Feel free to DM me if you need privacy.
