Practice Mindful Conversations in the Name of Peace

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Originally posted on December 20, 2021. Reposted on December 20, 2023

Searching for ways to invite more peace into your life? One simple way to practice peaceful relations with other people is by having mindful conversations.

Did you know that arguments and conflict often stem from misunderstandings? This is the result of careless and too-quick communication. We can avoid the types of misunderstandings that put us at odds with each other over petty issues, simply by sharpening our listening and speaking skills.

Become a mindful listener.

Clear the pathway to understanding by offering others your listening ears, mind and heart. One way to do this is by taking in what others are saying, using all of your senses. Too often we’re preoccupied with a task that distracts us from what the other person may be saying. We’re apt to miss those moments when body language reveals something different than whatever the words convey. But when we listen with our eyes and our sense of touch as well as our ears, we get the full story and we can lock in on the subtle nuances of feeling expressed.

Become a mindful speaker.

Too often we rush through communication with others. This can happen during face-to-face talks. Maybe we jump into a story halfway, assuming that the other party already knows what we mean. Or we use too many pronouns and vague words which confuse the story. The person on the other end of this may become impatient, or perhaps we are now irritated at them for their confusion. One way to ensure that our conversations remain peaceful is by slowing down and taking time to relay the important facts clearly.

Become a mindful texter and emailer.

Email, texts, and private messages can really make a mess of our intended communication if we let them. Perhaps we’re distracted and we type out a text message too quickly. Our message becomes garbled as a result of choosing the wrong word, letting typos slip in, and other conversational conundrums that happen during the too-quick method of chatting with others that is texts and PMs.

Avoid over-communicating.

Over-communication definitely happens in the smart phone world, and it seems to be at an all-time high which is definitely far from peaceful. One way to combat over-communication is by not CCing everyone in the group until there is a firm plan already in place. Not every discussion needs everyone weighing in. There are times when it’s better to take the lead and initiate a course of action, without consulting everyone for a lot of confusing debate.

Avoid communicating about nothing.

One way to make life more peaceful is by not causing aggravation unnecessarily. Some people are fond of taking others through each step of a plan that they’re carrying out. The network news has actually become this way; think of the weather reports during a hurricane, or a major headline news story that strings you along with updates that aren’t really about much of anything. Instead of discussing what happened, we engage with people about what might happen, and this is far from peaceful.

We can help people free up their time and improve their ability to speak and understand each other, simply by becoming mindful communicators. This is one of the best ways to restore peace with family, friends, colleagues, and other people with whom we deal on a daily basis.

Loving Life — The Reboot!

Dominique