Before you tell yourself you are standing your ground, not
moving, “sticking to it”, or being “steadfast” in your decision…you should
really ask yourself if you are being Strong, or just Stubborn.
Strength knows when to apologize, it knows when to change,
it knows when to make a new decision, and it understands being flexible.
Strength is telling the truth. It’s being honest with yourself, it’s
communicating to reach understanding, and it’s NOT one sided.
Stubbornness is insisting your side is right. Whether it’s
attitude or position, story tale, or truth. To be stubborn is to decide you are
going to be difficult, not move, be determined, and dogged in your attitude.
Stubbornness is not deciding you are going to stand in a place of strength and
educated in doing so.
Stubbornness comes when feelings get hurt. It appears when
one part of your mind is sad, mad, upset, or crushed. While another part of
your brain says: “Never again.” And the stubbornness switch gets flipped.
Honestly, being stubborn is the easy decision. The first decision. It’s the
decision to not be humble in your hurt, or to feel empathy for where the other
person might be coming from or what they could be feeling. Strength knows
humility and empathy. Strength is WILLING to stand and see all sides. Strength
is also ok with the result being a lack of understanding, because humility and
empathy fill that hole.
Stubbornness insists that something has been removed. That
there is less than, and insecurity. Strength says, everything is fine as is…I’m
wiser, I know more, I will use this information to help me be even STRONGER,
more humble, more empathetic, and better than I was.
I know I can be stubborn, that’s how I know what it says to my psyche. I know I can be strong, that’s how I know what benefits it gives me.
Today I think of past friendships, and current beautiful
ones. The clarity on Stubbornness for one or both parties in those “past
friendships” is more obvious now. Reasons can't always known when the stubbornness wasn’t
mine, but the understanding through strength is there when I’m willing
to transform my stubbornness.
We tend to see our feelings getting hurt similar to the way we see our physical body being hurt, even without realization of this. If you are in a car accident, and the reason for the accident is clear, (who did what for the cause) that is information you use for the rest of your life when you are driving. It makes sense to hang onto it. But when our feelings are hurt, the lack of knowledge (who did what for the cause) is most often totally unknown, add to that: bad days, life struggles, general stress, and even hormones, and the understanding of why the feelings got hurt are almost impossible, especially if stubbornness appears before communication does.
So without a personal story this time, and just a lot of realization. I am writing this for myself, and anyone else interested, to remember -that the next time you make a decision and it looks at all like being stubborn, ask yourself if you are wishing to be strong instead. Stubbornness is weak, flawed, and uneducated. Do you want to stand with your hands full of that? Or do you want to decide you will be strong, and do the harder thing which probably requires you communicate. Sometimes the end result can look the same, such as: I need to avoid that person because they are unhealthy for me. Strength sometimes decides that. But if stubbornness decides it, you are probably the one missing out, choosing weakness, not communication, and your pride in deciding that -keeps you oblivious to all kinds of benefit Strength carries.
Be aware -just that. Pay attention, be clear, don’t be so afraid of feelings. You’re built around them, why not understand them, and not just feel them.
We tend to see our feelings getting hurt similar to the way we see our physical body being hurt, even without realization of this. If you are in a car accident, and the reason for the accident is clear, (who did what for the cause) that is information you use for the rest of your life when you are driving. It makes sense to hang onto it. But when our feelings are hurt, the lack of knowledge (who did what for the cause) is most often totally unknown, add to that: bad days, life struggles, general stress, and even hormones, and the understanding of why the feelings got hurt are almost impossible, especially if stubbornness appears before communication does.
So without a personal story this time, and just a lot of realization. I am writing this for myself, and anyone else interested, to remember -that the next time you make a decision and it looks at all like being stubborn, ask yourself if you are wishing to be strong instead. Stubbornness is weak, flawed, and uneducated. Do you want to stand with your hands full of that? Or do you want to decide you will be strong, and do the harder thing which probably requires you communicate. Sometimes the end result can look the same, such as: I need to avoid that person because they are unhealthy for me. Strength sometimes decides that. But if stubbornness decides it, you are probably the one missing out, choosing weakness, not communication, and your pride in deciding that -keeps you oblivious to all kinds of benefit Strength carries.
Be aware -just that. Pay attention, be clear, don’t be so afraid of feelings. You’re built around them, why not understand them, and not just feel them.
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