Week 1, Post #3

One concept from this weeks reading that I can relate to is the “ Confrontation Avoidance Cycle.” I can think of a time specifically in which avoiding conflict ends up backfiring and leading to a continuous negative view of conflict.  Growing up as a young child we’re taught that conflict is something that we should avoid. When I was younger I got picked on a lot for being over-weight yet I continually ignored the kids teasing me because the situation made me nervous. Naturally, we tend to put off or avoid situations that make us nervous. Though this may be a short term fix, many issues worsen the longer they are ignored. As I tried my best to ignore the bullies and avoid conflict entirely, my anxiety surrounding the conflict led me to act out and handle the conflict badly. Instead of addressing the conflict in the proper way I avoided confrontation for so long that one day I snapped and got into a fight with the kid that was bulling me. It was because of the way that I viewed conflict and the way that I handled the situation, that my negative view of conflict was confirmed and the cycle started again.