Kristen L., Magsig Middle School
Confronting issues
Many people would be surprised how many heated arguments and fights they can avoid by learning to walk away. We are humans, and as humans our natural reaction to other peoples’ contrary beliefs or opinions is to say a snappy comeback or talk about how their opinion is wrong, but honestly? A lot of people don’t know the truth: Simply walking away from these things stops a lot of arguments, and therefore peace of mind, with your friends, family, and anyone else.
I didn’t realize this for a while- I’m pretty sensitive, so I often want to argue back, and a lot of times people think that not arguing back is a sign of weakness, and it’s only natural. But I have learned that when you strive to not continue arguments, you really and truly stop a lot of contention from happening, and this is a strength that I’ve formed over time. As my example of a time this strength positively influenced me, I would like to talk a bit about 6th grade. That’s the time when we’re still young enough to have an immature point of view on a lot of things, but old enough to care about having our own opinions. Unfortunately for me and my friend, we were both pretty sensitive and liked our opinion being the one that goes. I think you can see where this is going. In 6th grade, we had a LOT of fights. It was actually kind of hilarious how many we had- and it was all about stupid stuff, like how to pronounce a certain word or what this and this means and other dumb stuff. The arguments would get so heated, sometimes we would literally go days without talking to each other. And it really does make you wonder: What would have happened if we kept our cool?
This leads me to the positive influence walking away from fights can have. Over time, in 7th and now 8th grade, my friends and I have matured more, and gained a better perspective on those things. When something comes up where in 6th grade a full-blown argument would have started, we just kind of let it go, or change the subject. Our attitudes have changed over time after being older, but you don’t just have to let time make you gain that maturity. If you just think about the outlooks on the reactions you can have, you’ll really see getting mad does nothing, whereas calmly handling the situation can stop arguments, and sometimes even stop friendships from breaking, believe it or not.
In conclusion, I just want to reiterate what walking away from arguments can do, and why it’s such a strong and helpful strength I’ve gotten. I’ve learned that it makes you a happier, better person by not getting mad as easily, and I think anyone who reads this will find out it’s true. The changes I’ve gained from handling situations like this from 6th grade are truly amazing.
