Compromise

I've been struggling quite a bit over the past 5 or so years with implementing true compromise. Communication dogs me day in and day out, but at the heart of interactions with people the need to compromise is readily apparent; whether I look at my relationships, family issues, business endeavors or creative collaboration, compromise has been essential.

When individuals' values align, the amount of compromise required from each side becomes much less. Think about the friends you have, the people you work well with and the partner you choose and it's easy to see that we gravitate towards those with common values in an effort to minimize the need for compromise. Now that's a pretty obvious statement, but lately I've realized that I am having trouble concisely stating the values other people in my life hold. Furthermore, when I also have trouble concisely stating my own values. Not a pretty situation.

There is plenty to improve in my life, but I hope to tackle this first and foremost. So here goes:

1) I value complete honesty
2) I value inspiring others to do better, even if it just a little bit
3) I value the realization of potential
4) I value respecting a person's right to decide their own values

Bah. Well, I guess it's a start...