Necessary Conflict

“Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers,

but to be fearless in facing them.

Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain,

but for the heart to conquer it.”

-Rabindranath Tagore

(cited in Thriving Through Tough Times, by Deidre Combs, 2012)

For some of us, conflict is a dirty word. We try to avoid it all costs. We pray for pain to go away. We steer clear of any person who makes us uncomfortable. We tend to leave those situations where we do not have control. Avoidance is a common flight response to fear, uncertainty and major discomfort. In the short-term this avoidance behavior is useful f...