One of the organisations I volunteer with is called NCBI and we run workshops around conflict resolution and prejudice reduction. I have learnt a lot in my time with them, and one of the key things is prioritising keeping/making good relationships with people. As a Woman of Principles, I can sometime lose sight of what matters. Yes, I want justice for everyone, so yes, I want to end oppression, stand up for what is right, challenge people to rethink consumerism etc etc. But if i for a moment forget people’s humanity, then it just wasn’t worth it.
I’m feeling particularly pleased with myself this week, because I made a conscious decision to _not_ lose sight of people and my relationship with them because of a concern for having my needs met. So, there was a dispute over who was responsible for paying quite a bit of money for my boiler to be fixed - me, or a couple of different possible companies. At times, I wanted to get stroppy, and so had a bit of a cry with my friend, and then went back to the situation remembering that all these people I was talking to were warm and lovely people, doing their job as best they could. I have stayed upbeat and friendly - sometimes firm, but always keeping love for the people involved central, rather than my fear, hurt or stroppiness. So now, whilst it’s great to have a mended boiler, what’s even better is that i didn’t have to rob anyone else of their humanity in the process :)
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