As stated in most of the dictionaries, confrontation is 'a dispute, fight or a battle between two people or a group of people'. But I believe there is always a more comprehensive meaning to every term we use in everyday life. So does confrontation. There is a lot more to it than just a dispute.
There can be two modes of confrontation; confronting others and confronting yourself. Confronting people is relatively an easy task. People accuse, blame, and yell at each other all the time and with quite an ease. They don’t even analyze the actual causes of the issues which act as stimuli to confrontation. The usual reasons are biases, prejudices, misconceptions and inability or unwillingness to see through the problems. The outcome in this case is disastrous. It involves risks of strained relationships and probability of your reputation as an arrogant and mean personality. Even if you are right in confronting people, you will still have to face many if not all of such blemishes. People don’t like to be confronted generally.
Does that mean we should not confront at all? Well the answer is we should do it. But when we do, we must be sure of it. We must not think judgmentally. Judging people and situations makes our opinions unreliable and prone to break down. Then, confronting someone does not mean we do it for the sake of accusing or blaming. Reach out to the basics and inner core of the problem. Even if we think that the other person is the cause of the problem, we must learn why so and so has done or said such thing? We must realize the consequences also which are described above. May be then we are able to do our homework in a better way.
If we are right and logical in our apprehensions, then it's a win-win situation. We propose our case, we provide evidence and logic and the wind is in our side. Confronting people can prove to be very positive depending upon all the factors discussed above. The last factor is the capability of the person you are confronting. A person who is open to criticism proves to be an easy one to get him/her, understand the things.
Contrary to this, confronting ourselves involves almost no risk which can affect others. It is only we who would be affected and that too for good most of the times. The solution to any problem lies in identifying the problem, as they say. The next step is to come face to face with it. It's like a war; where two forces had identified each other’s strengths and weaknesses while they were in peace time and now they have come face to face with each other. It is at this time when they exploit each other. So are our very own selves. This can not be done while residing inside our selves. We have to come out of ourselves, come out of hiding, and throw away the veils of ego and false self respect. Be disrespectful to ourselves for a while in a whole day. Confront ourselves of whether it was I who were the source of conflict? Be on the other side of the line and watch ourselves from there. It is difficult. It is arduous. It threats the edifice which we have been erecting since long. It can shake our very own basis. So we are terrified of confronting ourselves. However, if we succeed in doing that, it will be the most direct and consequential approach towards betterment of our selves.
It will be a life long learning experience. It will save us from the strenuous task of protecting ourselves from the opinions and judgment of others. It will even prevent us from confronting others as it is a phase which must be initiated prior to confronting others. If we find ourselves at wrong then there is no need of going to the next phase. Hence, it will project us as a constructive and optimistic human being for them.
There can be two modes of confrontation; confronting others and confronting yourself. Confronting people is relatively an easy task. People accuse, blame, and yell at each other all the time and with quite an ease. They don’t even analyze the actual causes of the issues which act as stimuli to confrontation. The usual reasons are biases, prejudices, misconceptions and inability or unwillingness to see through the problems. The outcome in this case is disastrous. It involves risks of strained relationships and probability of your reputation as an arrogant and mean personality. Even if you are right in confronting people, you will still have to face many if not all of such blemishes. People don’t like to be confronted generally.
Does that mean we should not confront at all? Well the answer is we should do it. But when we do, we must be sure of it. We must not think judgmentally. Judging people and situations makes our opinions unreliable and prone to break down. Then, confronting someone does not mean we do it for the sake of accusing or blaming. Reach out to the basics and inner core of the problem. Even if we think that the other person is the cause of the problem, we must learn why so and so has done or said such thing? We must realize the consequences also which are described above. May be then we are able to do our homework in a better way.
If we are right and logical in our apprehensions, then it's a win-win situation. We propose our case, we provide evidence and logic and the wind is in our side. Confronting people can prove to be very positive depending upon all the factors discussed above. The last factor is the capability of the person you are confronting. A person who is open to criticism proves to be an easy one to get him/her, understand the things.
Contrary to this, confronting ourselves involves almost no risk which can affect others. It is only we who would be affected and that too for good most of the times. The solution to any problem lies in identifying the problem, as they say. The next step is to come face to face with it. It's like a war; where two forces had identified each other’s strengths and weaknesses while they were in peace time and now they have come face to face with each other. It is at this time when they exploit each other. So are our very own selves. This can not be done while residing inside our selves. We have to come out of ourselves, come out of hiding, and throw away the veils of ego and false self respect. Be disrespectful to ourselves for a while in a whole day. Confront ourselves of whether it was I who were the source of conflict? Be on the other side of the line and watch ourselves from there. It is difficult. It is arduous. It threats the edifice which we have been erecting since long. It can shake our very own basis. So we are terrified of confronting ourselves. However, if we succeed in doing that, it will be the most direct and consequential approach towards betterment of our selves.
It will be a life long learning experience. It will save us from the strenuous task of protecting ourselves from the opinions and judgment of others. It will even prevent us from confronting others as it is a phase which must be initiated prior to confronting others. If we find ourselves at wrong then there is no need of going to the next phase. Hence, it will project us as a constructive and optimistic human being for them.
