Are You Able to Let Things Go?

How flexible are you and what does this have to do with your EMOTIONAL health?

If you are flexible...

👉 You‘ll be able to bend and not be in pain.

👉 You‘ll be able to move in a wide range of motion and it won’t hurt.

If you are NOT flexible, you‘ll be stiff, unable to move much and if you try, it will hurt and you will scream.

SAME goes for you emotionally.

👉 If you are EMOTIONALLY STIFF, you will have little ability to bend to someone else’s thoughts, opinions and perspectives.

👉 If you are not flexible, you will expect everyone to cater to WHERE YOU’RE AT and insist on getting your way.

👉 If you do not get your way, watch out! You will scream, fight, and have a fit because someone is trying to ‘bend’ you in a way that’s uncomfortable and ‘hurts’.

A Parenting Lesson

The other day I was explaining this to my 16-year-old...

He had an opinion about something, I had a different one. We continued to state our sides trying to get the other to see our perspective.

✅ Many times when a disagreement arises, a conclusion does not have to be made. If it’s a ‘small thing’, you don’t HAVE to reach an agreement.... it’s okay to disagree.

✅ Agree, to disagree, and move on.

✅ They are entitled to their opinion, you are entitled to yours.

✅ Flexible people can respect different opinions, appreciate them and STILL have a happy, healthy relationship.

In this situation, I could see, I wasn’t making headway with having him seeing my perspective.

So I used this as an opportunity to teach him about emotional flexibility.

I explained...

👉 Some of THE MOST unhappy people, those who struggle the most in relationships, are those who cannot agree to disagree.

👉 They state their opinion till the ‘cows come home’ and cannot put a situation to rest.

👉 They wrestle with anyone who does not see their perspective and will persist in trying to get the other person to agree with them.

This is someone who is NOT ABLE to bend.

They dislike it when anyone tries to move them from their stance on a topic.

✅ A flexible person will ‘bend’ to see where the other person is coming from, to see their perspective.

✅ They will accept and respect the other persons’ opinions and not tirelessly insist on moving the two opinions together.

Let little things go

Be okay with not seeing eye to eye. For the most part, you don’t need to.

If perspectives are not aligning, after some friendly discussion, put the situation to rest.

And do so without bitterness or anger.

👉 If you are emotionally stiff, you will find this to be QUITE the struggle.

But the good news is...

✅ As you practise, your flexibility will improve and what use to be difficult will get easier.

I’m talking about letting small things go, things that aren’t important, or life-altering.

Big things are different. These are areas where you MUST be on the same page.

And... to make matters worse...

Those who are emotionally stiff will insist that EVERYTHING is a “big issue”, they will feel strongly about many things, all the time.

⭐️ This is how you tell just how flexible you are.

Is this you? Or do you live with someone like this?

If you’d like more information on this topic pick up my free guide: 3 Ways to Kill conflict in Your Home.