shami11
Minister (2k+ posts)
Do you love your friends but wish they understood politics and social issues on the same level you do? How do you cope with extreme differences while debating politics with your close friends? OMG, the way your partner is talking are they about to change political parties in mid-relationship? How do you keep your best friends and relationships when their spin on reality seems wrong?
- Do not let your temper get the best of you. Different points of view are not an opportunity to advance into road rage!
- This is step 2. Let go and listen. Most people are afraid to truly listen to another point of view because they are afraid of being swayed away from their own. What you want is to get closer (in spite of differences). While you may not agree with your friend/partner, learning the how and why behind their point of view will draw you closer even if you can't agree. The trick is not to sway your friend to your point of view, but find zones of agreement.
- We love our friends and want the best for them. We did not live their lives or have their parents. Sometimes political spin is inherited from family, and from social/cultural influences. I've had many friends living Republic lifestyles while espousing liberal points of view, and I've had many friends in blue collar careers who were fiscal conservatives. When you start listening, you discover that most people fall in the middle with tiny individual preferences that sway them slightly to one side. LOVE YOUR SIMILARITIES, love your differences!
- Don't choose a friend by their politics, choose a friend by their loving heart, honesty, reliability. If you got a flat tire would your friend rearrange their schedule to come pick you up? Would they get up at 5am and drive you to the airport? Would you sit in the dentist office waiting for them if they needed a root canal?
