Do you know someone who enters conversations with their dukes up? Maybe it’s a colleague or boss at work. Or maybe it’s someone around the dinner table or at family gatherings. You know, the person you wish would just relax, take a chill pill, and stop arguing and interrupting. You’ve probably done everything humanly possible to change the outcome—to no avail.
When does defensiveness show up in your world? It’s that moment when you hit an emotional landmine. The topic might be who’s going to do the dishes, the latest political drama or even the status of your relationship. It doesn’t really matter. What you know is that there’s a lockdown on communication and a subsequent stalemate. Learn to transform defensiveness with the questions in your awareness prescription.
Your Awareness Prescription
- What recent conversation, situation or experience has left you feeling defensive?
- How does your body physically react to this memory (e.g., tight muscles, jaw constriction, shallow breaths, sweaty palms or racing heart)?
- What does this experience remind you of? What are you protecting?
- What or who do you need to forgive from a past experience when you felt unprotected?
- The next time you encounter defensiveness, how might your experience transform if you were curious instead?
Please leave a comment here and share your answers—I’d love to hear from you!
To putting your dukes down,
P.S. Role modeling behavior is much more powerful than preaching to someone else about how they should change (and a lot more effective!). Get curious, not furious and you’ll inspire others to drop their defenses.
The owner of this website has made a commitment to accessibility and inclusion, please report any problems that you encounter using the contact form on this website. This site uses the WP ADA Compliance Check plugin to enhance accessibility. 