Stuffing our emotions to avoid conflict doesn’t work. Even though it’s sometimes uncomfortable to communicate when our feelings are hurt or we’re angry, pretending everything is fine doesn’t serve us or our relationships. Keeping in mind that it’s not really what others say or do that hurts us as much as our spin about it, kindly telling them how something ‘landed’ on us is one of the most loving things we can do. If we make sure to take responsibility for our own feelings and clarify that we’re truly not blaming them, the odds of being heard …

Go way up.