By Dr Justine Huxley (United Kingdom)
None of us enjoy conflict. It’s uncomfortable. Most of us attempt to resolve it as fast as possible, or run away at top speed. Sadly, this means we miss out on a wealth of potential for development, learning, intimacy and spiritual growth.
Approached in the right way, conflict is a treasure trove of opportunities for learning about ourselves, about life and about other people. It is a particular opportunity within our close relationships. Through working consciously with conflict we can increase our self-awareness, learn to walk in other people’s shoes and understand what makes them tick, grow in maturity and experience deepening intimacy with the people around us.
So how can we begin to tap into this potential? How can we learn to survive the tension and stress of disagreement and division?
Source: iCN Issue 7 (Relationship Coaching); pages 49-50
About Dr Justine Huxley
Dr Justine Huxley is the Director of St Ethelburga’s Centre for Reconciliation and Peace, in London. St Ethelburga’s approaches conflict as an opportunity and also recognises the relationship between the way conflict is manifested in our own individual lives, relationships and workplaces – and the bigger collective stories of crisis, change and transition that are present globally at this time. Justine has a Ph.D. in psychology and a diploma in counselling and leads conflict coaching training courses on a regular basis. justine.huxley@stethelburgas.orgwww.stethelburgas.org
