PeaceWalker Blog

  Last week's blog reminded me of a story...  A few years back I was hired by the Michigan Counselor Association to be keynote presenter and do a couple breakout sessions on conflict management. In one of the breakouts, I showed them how verbal communication and physical defensive tactics go hand in hand.  I demonstrated to them how these two are essential not only for your safety, but when you bring these together, your confidence raises in pretty much everything you do!   The Experience Stunned Them... someone brings up the topic of bullying. . "In my opinion, one of the main problems of many of the approaches embraced by today's schools is that they are coming from the wrong place. They are starting from the wrong foundation. They are beginning from a place of false assumptions and more importantly from a flawed, warped perspective of the human experience.” . What?! The crowd mouthed. . "Could I get a volunteer?" I asked politely. . A small, young lady stepped

Many times when people think of b eing attacked they think of a physical assault...  However, attacks come in many forms; Physical, Verbal, Emotional, Legal, Social and More. Today, I thought I'd share one way of dealing with someone who is gets verbally aggressive when talking to them about something.  This could happen at work, school, with friends or even at home in your personal relationships. Insults, blame, shame or being completely shut down is very prevalent today. How Do You Know... When you are dealing with this type of bully?  Simple, when talking no matter how diplomatically you bring your perspective up, they get aggressive and/or try to shut you down completely.,  Keep in mind to pick your battles. If you don't have to deal with this person, remember that you don't have to. Sometime its better to just walk away. Remember, you can't control others, only yourself. You may be able to influence, however don't get attached to trying to control people. Rathe

  How to Disagree... A PeaceWalker member reached out to me the other day, telling me how they used what they'd been learning. Here's the story... As you know currently with this pandemic and social unrest, there has been an even larger slice of conflict out there to contend with. One or our fellow members was telling me how they got into a discussion that turned into an argument with someone over wearing face masks.  I guess it started out pretty mild, but quickly escalated into a bit of a tiff. Our dear member said that they kept baseline and presented their point about their perspective on the topic at hand.  But... The other person wasn't having it, and they started firing back statics and their side of the story. Apparently, when they weren't able to convince them to see things their way, they began becoming more aggressive.  The more they talked, the more agitated they became, until, getting red in the face, they were almost screaming about all of the idiots who d

The Buzzard, the Bat &  the Bumblebee If you put a buzzard in a pen six or eight feet square and entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of his ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner.  The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground w/a run of ten to twelve feet. Without space to run, he will not even attempt to fly, purely out of habit. This habit would keep him a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top. The ordinary bat is actually quite an extraordinary flying creature, however it cannot take off from a level place. If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle around helplessly. It needs a slight elevation to throw itself into the air in order to initiate its flight.  If a bumblebee is dropped into an open container, it will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top. It will continue to try to find its way out through the sides near the bottom. It keeps looking for a