How to win a conflict situation using Empathy?
- Viswatez Repakula

- Jan 6, 2023
- 2 min read
After witnessing an incident in my son's life, when he was 5 years old, where he resolved a conflict with a fellow 5-year-old at a playground, I was truly mesmerized by the grace and empathy of my son, which stayed in my memory forever.

In the last summer, on a sunny evening, I took my son Vruketh to a nearby playground to let him have some fun. He took all his sand toys in a big bag and was walking towards the sandpit. One more 5-year-old boy was already playing in the sandpit with his own sand toys. As we don't know the name of the other kid, let's call him Alex. Vruketh liked Alex's toys a lot and asked Alex if he wants to share his sand toys with Vruketh. The conversation happend as follows.
Vruketh: Alex, can you share your sand toys with me?
Alex: No, I don't want to share toys with you.
Vruketh: But sharing is good. Why don't you share the toys with me?
Alex: No, I still don't want to share toys with you.
Vruketh: Friends should share toys with each other.
Alex: No, I don't want to share toys with you. You are not my friend.
At this point, I thought Vruketh will give up. But surprisingly, the conversation went ahead.
Vruketh: It's OK that you don't want to share toys with me, because I am not your friend. But as you are my friend, I can share my toys with you. Here you go! Vruketh shared his sand toys with Alex and that sharing has shocked him.
I could literally see the surprise and helplessness of Alex at this point. He thought for a moment and shared his toys with Vruketh.
I just went "Vow!".
This is an incident, which I will remember all my life. Instead of teaching/lecturing another person, what is good, it can simply be followed by us, to show how it is done! Sometimes I wonder whether we should watch Kids little more closely to note down all the creative solutions they come up for all kinds of situations!

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