Nonviolent Communication – A Language of Life, Second Edition @Team LiB

Most of us have been educated from birth to compete, judge, demand, diagnose—to think and communicate in terms of what is “right” and “wrong” with people.

They called it “Amtssprache,” loosely translated into English as “office talk” or “bureaucratese.” For example, if asked why they took a certain action, the response might be, “I had to.” If asked why they “had to,” the answer would be, “Superiors’ orders.”
“Company policy.” “It was the law.”

How to Make Yourself Miserable, Dan Greenberg

There is a story of a man under a street lamp searching for something on all fours. A policeman passing by asked what he was doing. “Looking for my car keys,” replied the man, who appeared slightly drunk. “Did you drop them here?” inquired the officer. “No,” answered the man, “I dropped them in the alley.” Seeing the policeman’s baffled expression, the man hastened to explain, “But the light is much better here.”

Before I rise to my defense,
Before I speak in hurt or fear,
Before I build that wall of words,
Tell me, did I really hear?

peace cannot be built on the foundations of fear

Unless, as grandfather would say, “we become the change we wish to see in the world,” no change will ever take place. We are all, unfortunately, waiting for the other person to change first.