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Be Still and Be Cool
At the seminar, we determined the best way to deal with difficult people was to not give them feedback which could be used as energy to fuel their uncooperative attitudes. I recalled times when I had tried to just stay out of the way of a person who had it in for me and remembered seeing their body stiffen, their face contort, just because I entered a room. It was clear that my presence was all the energy needed to fuel their fire.
Eventually I reached the conclusion that it did not matter what I did or did not do--sparks would fly from the never extinguished embers. Then came the day when the control-freak Administrative Assistant (haven't we all known one?) decided I was expendable. For me, this was crisis time since I had no confidence in my ability to handle the situation. I know it could have been handled, but my lack of confidence in myself rendered me ineffective in dealing with it.
Thus, was set up the first time in my life when I did not lose the battle to someone who decided to dislike me. In fact, there was no battle. I simply went to The Father instead of handling it myself:
"Be still and cool in your own mind and spirit from your own thoughts, and then you will feel the principle of God, from whom life comes; whereby you may receive his strength, and power to allay all blustering storms and tempests. This is what works up into patience, into innocence, into soberness, into stillness, into stayedness, into quietness, up to God with his power." --George Fox
Jane Mullikin
I've been attending a seminar the last few days and one of the discussions centered on dealing with difficult people. Many of us have experienced situations where some person seemed determined to make our lives difficult, if not downright miserable. No matter how much we knew, in our heads, about dealing with these situations, when it was in the here and now and our emotions were caught up in the drama, we seemed to lose sight of all we had previously learned about skillful negotiation.
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