What do you do when you have nothing to say? The simple answer is, of course, don’t say anything. I have this issue where I want to cause the least amount of stress for everyone around me. The problem is I can’t do a lot of physical things, so I try to help out wherever I can. The issue still is I am human, and I make mistakes. I’m the type of person who wants conflicts to be resolved immediately or not at all. I’ve realized now that not everyone works that way.

I tend to apologize once an issue is brought to my attention. I never intend to be inconsiderate of other people’s feelings. Sometimes my emotions get the best of me. Then once I apologize, I think everything is okay now. I try to move on with my day and act like everything is fine because it is on my terms. I have learned that it is incredibly inconsiderate of the other person’s emotional well-being. Sometimes people need time to process what happened and figure out how to move forward.

 This is extremely hard for me. I hope that once I have an extra space to go to after I move, I will be better about this because I can go to another room if necessary to get myself together.  People’s reactions and emotions are their own. They can have the best coping mechanisms in the world, but if you make a situation worse by reacting poorly to it, that’s on you. 

Empathy goes a long way. It’s also extremely tough to put into practice because everyone has their feelings about everything. The only feelings you can police are your own. You always have the right to go somewhere else, even if it’s just the bathroom. You don’t want to end up saying something that could ruin the relationship forever.

At the end of the day, everyone is navigating an emotional maze. Some days we navigate better than others, and we’re just all trying not to seem lost. Remember that next time you feel the urge to argue with someone who has insulted you in some way.

Featured photo by Damian Noilet courtesy of Pixabay