(Madisyn Taylor interview with course author Kim Schneiderman)
Madisyn Taylor: What does it mean to reframe your narrative about challenging relationships, and why do we need to do it?
Kim Schneiderman: At some point, everyone experiences a challenging relationship, whether it's with a relative, boss, partner, friend, or colleague. Consciously or not, we all have a story we tell ourselves about that relationship. A familiar refrain is "This person makes me miserable. If only he/she would change." While the feelings and the wish are understandable, such a narrative usually leaves us feeling resentful, powerless, and victimized. Often, we carry these emotions into our interactions, reacting with anger or avoidance, which can perpetuate the problematic dynamic.
The trouble with becoming stuck in one limiting story is that we fail to recognize the more inspiring narratives that could liberate us if we could only embrace them. That is the power of reframing one's narrative - being able to step out and view all the possible scenarios from an elevated perspective.
The truth is we can't change other people. But whether or not our adversaries "get us" or validate our choices doesn't matter as much when we feel like we are in the driver's seat of our own spiritual development, with choices to make about how to best take care of ourselves.
This course is perhaps best described as a relationship-wisdom course that uses perspective-bending writing exercises to liberate people from their self-defeating stories about challenging relationships. Every lesson contains a series of writing exercises that I recommend completing. But the goal is not writing well; the goal is self-discovery.
Course: Reframing Your Narrative About Challenging Relationships
https://www.dailyom.com/cgi-bin/courses/courseoverview.cgi?cid=885&img=8&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter
My Thoughts:
I like the sound of this course. I always think that writing exercise are a good thing, (well I would wouldn’t I), weather you consider that you have issues or not.
By there very nature all interactions with other people, regardless of the relationship connection are bound to go through patches of turmoil. We are all very different and it would be unrealistic to expect that there would never be any issues.
I think the main problem with personal relationships often stems from either the fact that one takes the other person for granted or that they are so self-centred that they disregard the other persons needs. In the long-term those actions can make the other feel insignificant, walked-over and irrelevant, especially if this is done by someone that they love and would move the earth for if it was possible.
I am not talking about major issues here, but the daily mundane things that make-up the majority of everyone’s daily existence.