People disagree all the time. There’s nothing wrong with this.

Actually, disagreement can be a good sign that we’re spending time with people who question us and help us to grow.

The true benefit, however, is almost entirely dependent on the way in which the disagreement is handled.

Scroll through your choice of social media platform, and you’ll almost certainly see the wrong type of disagreement. The type in which both parties try to overpower the other. It isn’t a contest of who is right, it’s a contest of who can yell the loudest.

This approach doesn’t work. At best, one party waves the white flag and lets the other party feel victorious.

The healthy, beneficial disagreement comes when we make the effort to truly understand and appreciate the other side of view. When we listen with the intention of understanding before we judge.

This is far from easy to do, but it’s worth the effort.

-Brandon