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I had a disagreement with a young person very near and dear to me last week. It was, in my world, a simple and rather unimportant event, yet there was an instance of disrespect which I needed to address. To the young one, I guess it was pretty serious because it caused problems with some older folks in my family due to his "misquotations" of what I'd said and (apparently) his autonomy and pride were involved.
Rather than give in to argument and hostilities, I decided to take a step back and wait for lessons to be learned. There was a ripple effect, as I'd withdrawn a couple of priviledges for my young friend, which affected other people. Even still, I stood fast, knowing this too, shall pass. Fortunately, others affected by the ripple understood the principle involved. We thought it might take just a day or so for "pride" to pass and logic to set in. We are still waiting and he is still learning .... ahhhh, the intensity of youth! ....
It hurts when others decide it is easier to shun you, rather than discuss the true issue of what is between you, but there are times you must stand your ground. There are times you must take a step back and wait for the other person to realize you are still the same person, you are still where you were, you still love them and their anger is not serving them. While waiting this past week, I found a particular blog entry from my dear one and decided to try and "break the ice" with some answers to his obvious confusion on life's issues. We shall see what comes to pass. In the meantime, I will wait for the "pride of youth" to pass and the "reason" (which I know lies within him) to bring him back to me.
I guess my lesson this week is this: While we may disagree, there are times we must love in silence until our loved one sees the light. We may not always take the same path and some things can't be taught in words, but we will meet again. Regardless of how we get to that meeting point, we will both be enlightened by the journey and able to share the adventure of going our own way. We will both be richer for the experience, each having learned another facet of each other's personality which fosters greater understanding in life. Choices are the true mirror of your character.