For the Grown-Ups

Conflict Is a Gift

It’s 7 a.m. and our youngest child isn’t out of bed, let alone prepared for school. This is a regular source of conflict between him and his parents — one that can lead to lectures and “conversations” and negotiations and ultimatums. And then it led to an inspiration. Lisabeth decided to read him a poem.

He loved it. And though he didn’t immediately get out of bed, the poem seeded his imagination with new images and possibilities — and shifted his mood entirely. It completely changed the dynamic and none of it would have happened without the conflict!

Conflict is a gift, not a curse. Without conflict there is no growth, no learning, no healing, and no revelation. We need the conflict to inspire the joy of resolution. Thus, avoiding conflict is not only a bad idea, it takes you out of the best parts of life!

At Sparkle, we celebrate conflict for its opportunities and invitations. Our playlist scratches the surface of the many, many stories we have about conflict resolution. We now have an entire topic page for Conflict Resolution, and the Dry Gables collection “Good Neighbors” is all about how different characters work through conflict together. It is a rich topic with many different angles on how best to resolve the challenges and impasses we all face, and so we have a variety of stories to match.

We hope this inspires many conversations and possibly some rich new techniques in your household! And as always, please tell us about your own challenges and successes. It helps us grow and learn and heal and inspire — and then create more stories for us all.