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“While focus has been on child exploitation and sexual abuse at a global, I cannot stop expressing the importance of having conversations within our very own families.

Conversations of actions.
Conversations of awareness.
Conversations of safety.
Conversations of protection.
Conversations of transparency.
Conversations of accountability.
Conversations of consequences.
Conversations of support.

Kids grow into adults and are often left to tackIe the effects of trauma on their own. When someone comes out, stop asking them why they waited. Or, call them a liar. Or, say they are crazy. Or, treat them like they are the abuser. Or, keep them ostracized as the outcast. These familial defense mechanisms only continue to add to the trauma and abuse.

We need to create a culture within our families where our children - and children turned adults - don't feel so voiceless and unprotected when confiding in their truth.

It's never too late to have these difficult conversations. Please have them.”
― Jamie A. Triplin

“Alkaid had never opened up to anyone like this, but Enki did not feel special, just tired.”
― Noor Al-Shanti, Wandering Storm

“If your parents are getting old and you don't know how to bring up the topic of what to do with all the stuff, I would suggest you pay them a visit, sit down, and ask some of the following questions in a gentle way:

"You have many nice things, have you thought about what you want to do with it all later on?"
"Do you enjoy having all this stuff?"
"Could life be easier and less tiring if we got rid of some of this stuff that you have collected over the years?"
"Is there anything we can do together in a slow way so that there won't be too many things to handle later?”
― Margareta Magnusson, The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning

“It was not easy for Paul to stand as a mirror and confront Peter's bias towards the Gentiles. He even had to address Barnabas as well, who got swept up in group-think. The majority of the members, including Peter, were satisfied with the way they treated Gentiles. Paul, however, advocated strongly against the evident injustices. Being a Paul and addressing difficult topics on race is what the Church needed then and still needs today. Generally, as a church, we are comfortable with the Peters but feel somewhat awkward around the Pauls because the Pauls push us into an uncomfortable realm. The Pauls are rare but are more precious today than silver and gold.”
― Shaun Brooks

“An employee wanders into work late, something you’ve been meaning to talk to them about, so you say, “Late again, eh?â€� and leave it at that. Or you visit your son for the weekend, notice the empty beer bottles in the garbage, and say, “I see you’re still drinking up a storm.â€� These comments are intended to help. You hope your employee or your son will take the message to heart. But while your comments may help you feel a bit better (“At least I’ve said somethingâ€�), they make the other person defensive and frustrated, which is unlikely to produce the kind of change you had in mind. A good rule to follow is: If you’re going to talk, talk. Really talk.”
― Douglas Stone, Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most

“Because in the great majority of cases, the reason the other person is not listening to you is not because they are stubborn, but because they don’t feel heard. In other words, they aren’t listening to you for the same reason you aren’t listening to them: they think you are slow or stubborn. So they repeat themselves, find new ways to say things, talk more loudly, and so forth.”
― Douglas Stone, Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most

“Saying “I’d like you to pay more attention to meâ€� is more likely to produce a conversation (and a satisfying outcome) than “Is it impossible for you to focus on me just once?â€� Because instead of hearing the underlying feeling or request, the other person focuses on the sarcasm and the attack. Instead of hearing that you feel lonely, they hear that you think they are thoughtless. The real message doesn’t get through, because they are distracted by the need to defend themselves.”
― Douglas Stone, Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most