So, we live in a free society. This is roughly supposed to mean we can make choices about what we do and how we go about doing it. Yet, being part of a group can make it much more difficult to exercise that freedom.
At the moment I am spending a few weeks with my family away from home. They keep asking me what I would like to do for the day. However, when I state my choice, faces are pulled, negative or dismissive comments are made, or it's all subtly ignored, and so, too many times, I end up with a fake change of mind that only results in avoiding external conflict. Still, the conflict does remain, only is not externalised, it stays within me. I end up being in conflict with myself.
At the moment I am spending a few weeks with my family away from home. They keep asking me what I would like to do for the day. However, when I state my choice, faces are pulled, negative or dismissive comments are made, or it's all subtly ignored, and so, too many times, I end up with a fake change of mind that only results in avoiding external conflict. Still, the conflict does remain, only is not externalised, it stays within me. I end up being in conflict with myself.