Filling Up The Soap Dispenser Of Harmony
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From Lorraine Segal's Conflict Remedy Blog August 2010 |
As I frequently tell my coaching clients and students, it is far easier to resolve or avoid conflict if we look at our own contribution to the situation. We really can’t control another person, no matter how much we want to, but it is possible to change our own attitude and behavior, which often improves our dynamic with the other person.
A problem I had at my new sublet office is a wonderful illustration of this. My clients and I get to use the general waiting room. Since I’m chemically sensitive, I arranged to provide fragrance-free natural soap for the waiting room bathroom and take responsibility for refilling the dispenser.
When I came in on Tuesday last week, the soap level looked higher than I remembered. I took a cautious sniff and discovered someone had filled my pristine soap container with highly scented artificial soap. I was outraged. Didn’t we have an agreement? Hadn’t I done my part? I wanted to add this as new fuel to the fire of other (perceived) slights there. I did my best to write a reasonable e-mail to the director, though I’m sure a whiff of self righteous accusation crept in.
When I got home that night, almost vibrating with indignation, I told my spouse about what had happened. She was very sympathetic. But she also commented, “You know, if you keep the soap dispenser filled up all the time, no one will try to refill it.”
Her remark made me stop and think. If I quietly and routinely made sure the soap dispenser was always topped off, there would be no opportunity for any of them to forget our agreement, or for me to build up resentment.
So, I have made a vow of “fulfillment” to myself and to the soap dispenser. I am willing to release my judgments and expectations and simply do the next right thing.
In any conflict, instead of hanging on to principles of right and wrong, we can ask ourselves,”Is there the equivalent of a soap dispenser we can fill? Can we take some small action to heal the cause of the conflict and restore harmony?”
By the way, as I was saving my first draft of this post, I got an apologetic e-mail from the director, letting me know she put a label on a new soap dispenser instructing people to only fill it with the unscented soap. She may have taken this action anyway after my e-mail, but I like to think the universe shifted just a smidgeon when I changed my thinking. My clients and I often experience small miracles like this when we bring a spirit of forgiveness and creative problem solving to our disputes.
Biography
Lorraine Segal, M.A., has her own Sonoma County conflict & forgiveness coaching, mediation, and training business, Conflict Remedy, based in Santa Rosa, California. She also teaches in Sonoma State University’s Conflict Resolution certificate program and leads communication skills workshops and webinars on forgiveness, co-parenting skills, and communication. She specializes in transforming communication for divorced parents.
She has presented face to face or via teleseminar for ACR, ADRHub, Women’s Global Leadership Institute, local non profits and schools. Her coaching and mediation services are available by telephone as well as face to face. Her blog and more information about her and her services are available at www.ConflictRemedy.com
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