A Humanistic approach to group dynamics
Lately it seems that the world has arisen to a new level of challenges, that bring more stressors to the table than we might be used to dealing with in our lives before the recent ‘Perfect Storm’ of pretty much worldwide events that we now face.
These include: 1) the Covid pandemic, 2) a highly polarized political situation with little or no ability to compromise, in many countries, 3) an economic future that includes inflation, shortages, and a somewhat bleak future for many, and 4) most recently, a new war.
Strategies for dealing with these challenges may share a common difficulty, the inability of various factions to accept the other factions’ world view of what might be the best way to make things better.
In each of these four arenas (health, politics, economics, conflicting ideologies), we might begin by finding and concentrating on our commonalities rather than our differences.
In each case, we begin with two alternative premises, each with its own scenario of how things should be done.
When proponents of divergent agendas interact, it can sometimes be difficult. Each side might have a different idea of what the priorities are.
In order to work together, be it in a work situation, a project in which the participants are volunteers, or perhaps within a political arena, things tend to go better when all involved parties concerns are accomodated.
Sometimes compromises acceptable to all are required and a pre-requisite might be that all involved individuals need to be willing to listen to the concerns of others and try to see what can be done to accomodate the other side in order that their own concerns will also be accomodated, to the point that all sides concerned may be accomodated.
Of course, this won’t work if there is no desire to make things better for all, as in a war of aggression, but it might be useful for many people of good intention but differing world views.
More simply put, people should help each other and support each other, in order that their own concerns might be treated similarly by those not sharing their own priorities and views.
The lesson to be learned from this is that we are stronger and more capable when we work together and support each other’s goals, even if they aren’t our own.
As my Mom used to say,
“You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar!”,
and also,
“One hand washes the other!”
Jamgon Kontrul, in his The Direct Path to Enlightenment has said:
“Drive all Blames into one.”, (Let go of blaming, it usually doesn’t help.)
and right after that,
‘Be Grateful to Everyone.”
Very Best to All! (Mom also would say “This too shall pass.”),
Daniel
