5 Steps to Reducing Drama and Conflict in Your Life

We have all watched famous actresses or singers go through unbearable times in their careers. Being subjected to public view always, night and day, one could only hope to survive such constant pressure.

Sadly, society as a whole has become almost numb to the notion of drama. It goes hand in hand with daily living. Rumors and gossip are no longer unacceptable. They have become a way of life that we are supposed to accept as freedom of speech and opinion.

Many people will say that avoidance is the best answer to gossip, rumors, and strife.

But yet, no matter how much a person avoids it, it's still there.

How does one avoid drama?

The key to avoiding drama is not allowing it in your life. It will be there. It's knocking at the door like a deputy with a warrant. Carefully crafted, sometimes sneaking in when you are vulnerable and least expecting it. Especially if you have had a bad luck streak or fallen on hard times, you might notice you've gained a huge following just to keep you from standing back up.

Back in the day, people were taught to be kind to one another, to help one another, to love one another. These days, it's a pretentious society. All of those kind things your mother told you to say to others to get along have packed their own bags and left town. Instead, venomous words are often struck on those that are left in the wake of wrath. Being struck down by someone's outright lies and accusations is no fun at all indeed.

Avoiding drama is like pretending to be a dart board and not letting the darts hit you wear it hurts. You have to dodge words, rumors, accusations like the bubonic plague because if you aren't careful, you might catch it too.

I remember my grandfather's stories of raising a family in the 1950s. Times were so much different back then, if a person started something with another, a fist fight would settle the score out back of the old canteen.

While violence is never the proper choice for getting even, in today's world one must come to the realization that it may never be the way it once was. Handing conflict today is much different than it used to be.

Don't believe anything that you hear!

This used to apply to radio and television. With the network of online social media, and news media broadcasts, you are guaranteed to hear something new almost every second of every day now.

Beginning in the 1950s, the television became the main source of public opinion.

Take for example an infomercial about a product which you are not familiar. If the advertisement is done decently, you may buy the product. You are purchasing a product from a television marketing ploy in which you have no factual basis for investing in the product except for someone's opinion.

Likewise, don't believe half of what you see!

Just because the paid actor on the infomercial tells you to buy something, it doesn't mean the product is any good. It just means there is a product they want to sell you to make money.

Consider the recent pocket hose epic failure! I know of eBay sellers that were banned from ever selling again after selling hundreds of defective hoses. Customers were not happy.

This is a matter of buyer beware. Television has played a role in public opinion since the time of invention. Yet people continue to buy in to everything that is presented in front of them as truth, without even coming to conclusion for themselves first whether or not the information is reliable.

This common thought process is also true in real life relationships. It seems people are willing to believe untruths and rumors before ever hearing both sides of a matter to determine for themselves what happened. Therefore, most often, the rumor mongering continues because no one thought to put a stop to it the first time it occurred.

Fact or Fiction?

Do people really jump off a bridge because others tell them to?

See table below for most common bridges associated with jumpers.

If you do not participate, you aren't liable for the consequences.

The illustration above of the Tomb of the Diver shows it all.

Just because someone else does something or tells you to do something, you don't have to. That's the beauty of free will. Obviously, I'm speaking here only to dares and double dares.

You don't have to be your own worst enemy. If someone won't like you or speak to you ever again simply because you didn't take them up on that offer to jump in the deep end of a drained pool, then who needs them any way?

Participating in activities which are detrimental to what you believe in and who you are only result in dire consequences.

Therefore, if there is a room full of friends that are all gossiping and creating strife for another person, excuse yourself and leave. You do not have to participate in it. Would you participate in something dangerous simply because if not you wouldn't have those people as friends any more?

Facebook is prime real estate for participation. It's fun until someone gets hurt and deletes their account. Also, freedom always comes with consequence. Sure, it may be funny to poke fun at someone openly online on Facebook for the world to see, but how will those same viewers ultimately view you?

We all have bad days. That's a given. True friends will accept you for your bad as well as good times and will make no stipulation for error.

The one piece of advice warranted through any emotionally turbulent crisis in a relationship with a friend or group of peers is to be the kind person you are no matter what. No one can take that away from you ever.

No matter what they say. No matter what they do. You will always be you!

What makes a true friend?

Friendship is mutual affection, trust, commitment, and loyalty between two people. While most of us fall short of being perfect, many of us want to try to be the best as a friend to someone we adore.

Not all of us will get along.

It's not always possible to avoid drama, gossip, rumors, conflict or strife.

The first key ingredient in making a friendship last is to honor and respect your friend. Likewise, if you aren't getting a reciprocal dialogue, it's time to move on. There are many people in this world. Focus on people who actually care about you, not what you can do for them or how many laughs they got off on at your expense!

Don't be quick to dismiss or judge a friend based on opinions of others. Finding a rare gem in a pile of unsearched oysters takes time. If it was that easy, pearls wouldn't be so valuable.

A Trusted Man, a thrilling movie about a young career woman accepting opportunity for job advancement and relocating, soon finds someone stalking her. The main character named Sonia breaks off a committed relationship to move forward in her career. Soon after moving, she meets the owner of an art gallery and starts a new relationship. The man is sweet, charming, and seemingly perfect until unexplained events start happening which make Sonia believe that this man isn't the one of her dreams, but rather someone not to be trusted. Without giving away the ending in case my readers haven't viewed this movie, Sonia is depicted as a very intelligent young woman with a passion for her career but unequally as smart when it comes to men. However, the incident which relates to the issue herein about gossip and conflict, is that Sonia allows herself to believe untruths without seeking knowledge for herself first. Factual evidence that could have led Sonia down the path of righteousness, led her down the path of ultimate undesired fate because of the lies that she believed.

The old saying, "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink", has never been more truthful in a time of second-by-second explosive gossip, strife, drama, and conflict.

If you have found yourself in a dramatic situation, feel free to remove yourself. Your number one focus is you! You need to think about yourself first without regard to those who are gossiping and rumor mongering about you. Here's why:

• Those that start rumors and drama are in it for themselves. So why shouldn't you return the favor and do the same back by thinking more of yourself?
• Disassociate yourself with people who you feel are truly not worthy of your valuable time. It's better to live life happy and ignorant, than to feel depressed and unworthy at the words of someone else.
• Do not engage in conversations that truly do not bring positive encouragement and emotional uplifting. Esteeming others is key to capturing the essence of friends that will love you back for who you are.
• Birds of a feather flock together. Don't become like them simply because you want to fit in. If you don't fit in for who you are, they aren't worth it.

If rumors or conflict become severe, the law will be there to protect you. There are many ways in which some people just do not know when to stop. If you become abused or victimized through someone else's ruthless tactics and outright ploy against you, feel free to call your local police, an abuse advocate, or a lawyer. There are ways to stand up for yourself and your rights without being trampled on by someone with a vindictive nature.

Many times, women especially, grow up believing that we should always be kind and forgiving. We are also taught at young ages, to turn the other cheek.

Well, I have found in my life, I'm not going to wait around for someone to slap me. They can shout from the roof tops all they want, but in the end they will find nothing but loneliness. When someone is unkind to you, expect that eventually there will be no one left for them to be unkind to.