Grateful for Difficult People?

Are you grateful for “difficult” people in your life?

Before I go any further, let’s consider what I mean by difficult.

I bet you can name individuals who get under your skin. You know, people who can be moody and hard to please. They could even be very opinionated. The word compromise is not in their vocabulary. Or at least it doesn’t seem so.

Am I suggesting you become best buds? Not necessarily. But hear me out.

Disclaimer: I believe we all should establish boundaries with the people we interact with. Unfortunately, some people are toxic and it’s not wise or safe to be around them. That’s not the type of person I’m talking about.

I’ll take a wild guess here and say that you probably don’t like to be around difficult people any more than I do.

Maybe you tolerate difficult people but can you say you are grateful for them?

Let’s park on this idea and consider why you could be grateful.

Reason #1: Could this be an opportunity for you to learn patience?

Reason #2: Could this be an opportunity for you to learn grace?

That sounds very noble but why would you want to do that?

Let’s go deeper.

Have you ever needed someone to be patient with you?

Or have you ever needed someone to show you grace?

That’s why!

If we’re being honest with ourselves, no matter how hard we try, we all have our moments of being difficult. Understanding this leads to the final reason.

Reason #3: We need to learn humility. Because there have been times, whether with friends or family members that we have needed someone to be patient with us and show us grace.

Is it possible to be grateful for difficult people? Yes!

Daily Doable: Make a list of the person or persons who were patient with you and showed you grace. This is a humbling exercise. You might remember specific times that you were shown patience and grace. Hopefully, it will put you in a better mindset to be patient and gracious with others.

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