Getting into conflicts, disagreements, or even full-blown arguments with your friends can be really challenging.
On one hand, these are people you love and care about.
They are people who’ve been a fixture in your life for a long time.
And you all probably mean well.
However, this doesn’t mean that you’re not going to wander into conflict-oriented territory now and then.
In fact, this is bound to happen.
One thing that you can be sure of as a human is that you’re going to end up disagreeing with the people you love at some point or another.
But when it happens, what should you do about it?
How can you resolve it and get back to being friends without risking ruining the relationship?
Today, you’re going to learn exactly how to do that.
Let’s talk about it.
1. Identify The Problem
Try to step outside of your emotions for a minute and identify what you’re actually disagreeing about.
During this step, it’s also important to give the situation time to cool down.
Sometimes, the heightened emotions are really the main factor that is currently making the situation so heated or volatile.
Sometimes, when you really take a step back and you try to look at it through the lens of objectivity, you’ll find that the two of you are only disagreeing on perhaps a minor point or technicality.
In any case, identifying exactly where the disagreement exists is a great first step in helping to solve it.
2. Talk About It
Once you identify the actual source of the disagreement, it’s time to talk about it.
Let your friend talk about their side of the argument until they’re done—and then, you can take your turn, and explain your side.
It’s very important to remain respectful and kind as you conduct this step. It’s also important to give each other enough space to approach this conversation without having ‘high emotions.’
If you don’t wait long enough to let the emotions fizzle out, it’s possible that you’ll both just get angry or hurt and make the situation even worse.
This is crucial to communicating and getting things figured out.
3. Apologize
If you’ve hurt your friend’s feelings, overstepped boundaries, or in any way acted in an unkind or disrespectful manner, it’s really important to apologize for it.
Hey, apologizing doesn’t mean that you’re a bad person.
It just means that you’re a normal person who sometimes makes mistakes, and that you’re willing to take responsibility for them.
And this is great for your friendship.
4. Move On
Once the two of you have apologized and reconciled your differences, it’ll be important to move on and get past the argument.
One of the dangers of disagreements between friends is that bad feelings can continue to linger for quite some time if they’re not dealt with.
So try to process your negative feelings, and to move on with the friendship without being angry.
This is a great final step involved in solving the issue.
