Conflict must be resolved

Conflict must be resolved. It cannot be evaded, set aside, denied, disguised, seen somewhere else, called by another name, or hidden by deceit of any kind, if it would be escaped.  It must be seen exactly as it is, where it is thought to be, in the reality which has been given it, and with the purpose in mind accorded it.
ACIM-W-333:1:1-3

I used to teach conflict resolution in my Communications class.  When I asked the students, every year,  if they thought conflict was good or bad in fostering a healthy team...most answered that it was a bad thing to be avoided at all costs.  Of course, I would throw that line from Hamlet at them, nothing is either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.  Then I would proceed to tell them basically the same thing the above excerpt from A Course in Miracles tells us. "Conflict must be resolved not denied or avoided."

Conflict is not only an expectant part of group dynamics but it is an expected part of Life. We can close our eyes to it, walk away from it, promise to deal with it later or call it something else...but we will never escape it if we do that.  The only way to deal with a conflict or any less than desirable life event...is to go through it. Resolution is the key that allows us to do so.

Resolution begins with seeing the conflict for what it is, where it is. And of course...that is in our minds. We need to put it all out on the table, so to speak. Just recognizing conflict: "This side has a different way of seeing things than my side does...and that is preventing us, as  a whole,  from moving forward with one unified goal." ...is enough to start the resolution process and create freedom from it.

In our own minds...conflict might exist between what ego wants for us and what that wise part of us (God) wants for us. This conflict makes us feel uneasy, unhappy and we might squirm and wiggle our focus from it.  We may run from it by numbing our minds or getting lost in superficial pursuits.  The more we run, however, the bigger the conflict gets and the further away from reaching a  unified goal we are.

Just by recognizing that there is a conflict...heck that there are two sides in our minds capable of disputing....is a big step toward resolution.  When we recognize an ego self...lets call that side "Fear" and a true Self ("Love") we begin the process.  Then when we recognize how they both want different things...we take another big step into resolving the problem.

By the time both parties sit down at the bargaining table and lay down their demands we are well on our way.  It is only when we see the demands, however,  that conflict gets dismissed. We see how futile and counter productive ego/fear's demands are and it is like...wow...why are we even bothering to try to negotiate with such absurdity? There really is only one side that makes sense.

So ego is respectfully dismissed from the table and the true goal..."peace, happiness, Joy" is re-established. This is conflict resolution.  This is awakening.  Hmm!

All is well!