Acknowledge Everything

Recently I have had the growing opportunity to work through a few instances of hurt feelings and misunderstandings with some friends. I don’t relish this. As hard as it is to feel hurt by another person, for me, knowing I caused someone else pain is worse. 

As I have thought about what happened - and each instance was different - I have considered that if each party (myself included) had merely acknowledged the other, most of the hurt would never have happened. 

Acknowledgement is not something I am particularly good at. I cherish it when I hear it, and feel the goodness of connection when I manage to give it. But often I find myself bypassing mere acknowledgement and jumping directly to action. 

One of my goals (near and long term) is to focus more on the very healthy interactive and connective phase of acknowledgement.