I used to be allergic to compromise until I understood that it is essential for our survival…
‘To compromise’ originates from the latin word compromittere – ‘to make a mutual promise’. The prefix ‘com’ means ‘with’ or ‘together’. Precisely the word ‘promittere’ signifies ‘to let go’, ‘to send forth’, ‘to assure beforehand’.
‘Let go – together’ – I like that one.
Okay, what is compromise really?
To compromise means to consider everybody’s needs.
As human beings we all have the same needs.
Unfortunately we live in a society with strong narcissistic traits. We deny our needs with powerful defense-mechanisms. These mechanisms became so strong that we lost the ability to feel what we need – as humanity and more and more as an individual.
As a collective we are taking on masks that cover up our trauma – the trauma that needs to be solved in order to proceed to higher levels of consciousness. And this is where we want to go if we want to align with nature.
With other words – we live in a society that denies life.
Overcoming this conditioning became the challenge of my life. I was raised to function – nothing more. How can I be okay with that?
“You are seeing this a bit too pessimistic,” a friend recently called upon ‘my lack of optimism’.
Don’t get me wrong. I love life and I highly believe in life. That’s the reason why I am so passionate about transformation – because I believe in change for the better.
So, what does this all have to do with compromise?
The possibility of growth derives from exchange. This is a fact I become more and more certain about under current circumstances.
By not-compromising we are getting stuck in our own perspective of reality.
This is dangerous. Why?
What we call ‘our perspective’ are just thoughts.
No matter how certain we are about our own point of view – it is just our thoughts.
They are nothing – if you look at it sober-minded.
By clinging to our perspective, by always bringing up the ‘but’ (But this is me. But this is what I think. But you are not right.) we obstruct the pathway towards harmonious coexistence with righteousness.
And righteousness definitely belongs to a spectrum of lower frequencies which causes all the suffering in the world.
We are not allowing flow – the flow of life. If we are holding on to our arguments we are closing ourselves up to possibility.
We don’t ‘solve’ our collective misery by arguing.
We solve it only by establishing human values – mutual values around the whole globe.
We are ‘out of alignment’. Compromise is our means of transport to go back to human nature.
And how do we do it?
Lao Tzu says: “Knowing the other is intelligence, knowing yourself is wisdom.”
It starts with ourselves.
Crisis is a great opportunity to get to know ourselves better.
A real crisis is a turning point. It is about life or death. Am I willing to change for the better or do I prefer to stick to outworn habits?
Our relationships are an invitation to learn more about ourselves. And how do we relate to fellow human beings?
By being open about our needs.
If we are aware of it or not – our needs are the only certainty in our lives. Our basic needs are the same, so why not talk about it openly and find solutions that serve us all?
This crisis is our chance to find a mutual promise again.