Conform, Complain or Confront

This week’s post is inspired by three words I came across a while back and it’s a reminder of the responses we have to situations.

I regularly come across people who share about their personal circumstances and challenges.

What I often find is that some people are more willing to talk about the situation than do something about it. We can become experts in explaining why things are the way they are even when the solutions are glaringly obvious.

I test willingness to change a situation by offering people the opportunity to do so. Sadly too many come up with reasons why they can’t take the opportunity.

Let’s look at these words in a bit more detail.

Conform

This means to act in accordance with the prevailing standards, attitudes and practices of a group or society.

Just because others are doing it doesn’t make it right for you to join in. What values do you subscribe to? What underlying beliefs drive you?

Where are you headed to in life? Is this life all there is for you or do you believe there is life after death?

Your responses to these questions will help you know when to conform and when not to.

I have had the privilege of living in different nations and cities. All locations have their set of values and norms. Some of these I found clashed with my upbringing and personal values.

Sometimes, I have conformed to new ways of thinking and working because they were better than my old ways. This allows me to be on a constant journey to be better as I know better.

At other times, I have chosen not to conform to the popular cultures of this world.

Remembering that I am in this world but not of this world helps me to evaluate the choices before me.

There’s only one version of truth and all other shades of truth are nothing but lies.

What and who is your truth? The Truth is a person and not popular opinion as we are led to think.

Complain

Complaining makes you a victim and leaves you trapped. Your options are to leave the situation, change the situation or accept it. When you find yourself complaining and not doing much else, then you are stuck.

What are you currently complaining about in your life, relationships and career? What have you done to address the underlying issues? What efforts have you made to craft better alternatives?

What difference has previous complaining made to the situation? How do you feel after complaining – drained, angry or exhilarated?

The choice is yours – continue as is with your complaining or make a change.

We are not trees – that can’t move themselves – we are people who can make necessary changes if we choose to.

You may be complaining about your job but are you willing to study for an alternative path? Are you complaining about your relationship and yet too proud to seek counsel or professional help?

You get the drift. Unless you are willing to put your hands to the plough to reap the harvest you want, you have no right to keep complaining.

Confront

How many times do we wish we had confronted a situation rather than the stance we took. Perhaps it’s a bullying situation in the workplace or a family situation that we fail to address preferring to stay in denial about it.

Many times we fail to confront because we are focused on ourselves and we are concerned about how our involvement could be perceived and reflect on us or we simply stopped caring.

If you know to do good and you don’t do it, the Bible tells us that this is sin.

We have a responsibility to do good and this often times requires that we confront injustice, wrong doing and unfairness done to others or to us.

As we start a new week, ponder on these three words and when faced with any situations, ask the question, ‘To conform, complain or confront?’ What will it be?

Have a great week. Thanks for reading. Please leave a comment, like and share with others. See you next week.