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 really serve us or our relationships. It’s not what others say or do that hurts us as much as it is our spin about it. Telling them how something has ‘landed’ on us is one of the most loving things we can do. If we make sure to take responsibility for our feelings and clarify that we’re not blaming them, the odds of being heard …

Go way up.