WIN-WIN SOLUTIONS
Welcome to my first official post! Thanks for joining me, and hopefully you enjoy this blog's content. If not, leave a comment down below with your feedback 😜😜. Now onto the writing...
As the vessel of an incompletely-developed brain, it's hard for me to prospectively see the consequences of my actions, and I'm sure this is very relatable for almost all teenagers. When my actions backfire, I often find myself regretting not doing things differently. Procrastinating too much on an assignment or unnecessarily escalating a situation serve as common sources of regret; in most cases, there's a better outcome that I lacked to pursue.
In these instances, my trustworthy adviser and beloved friend (my mom LOL) tells me that I should strive to create "win-win solutions." For those who don't know, win-win situations are interactions where two parties come to a compromise that benefits them both. As compromises go, sacrifices are always involved. Compromises' enemies, pride and self-centered thinking, most commonly prevent the acceptance of these sacrifices.
What really brought me to this topic was the whistling solution Brent Staples described in Just Walk on By. Staples clearly expressed his distaste towards the assumptions being made about his character, but instead of doing nothing, he admirably swallowed his pride and tried to make the best out of the circumstances. In a situation which easily could have been uncomfortable for both people, Staples found a happy alternative and created to a win-win solution.
During our in-class discussion about Staples' solution, some people pointed out that he shouldn't have altered his actions for others. While I can see where they're coming from, I staunchly believe that the results of his actions completely outweigh the sacrifices made. My naive heart believes that if everyone strove to create win-win compromises, the world would be an infinitely better place. Although I would be greatly disillusioned to think that the world would ever be all win-win solutions, Staples' short-term fix serves as personal inspiration to improve the world around me, no matter how small the action.
As the vessel of an incompletely-developed brain, it's hard for me to prospectively see the consequences of my actions, and I'm sure this is very relatable for almost all teenagers. When my actions backfire, I often find myself regretting not doing things differently. Procrastinating too much on an assignment or unnecessarily escalating a situation serve as common sources of regret; in most cases, there's a better outcome that I lacked to pursue.
In these instances, my trustworthy adviser and beloved friend (my mom LOL) tells me that I should strive to create "win-win solutions." For those who don't know, win-win situations are interactions where two parties come to a compromise that benefits them both. As compromises go, sacrifices are always involved. Compromises' enemies, pride and self-centered thinking, most commonly prevent the acceptance of these sacrifices.
What really brought me to this topic was the whistling solution Brent Staples described in Just Walk on By. Staples clearly expressed his distaste towards the assumptions being made about his character, but instead of doing nothing, he admirably swallowed his pride and tried to make the best out of the circumstances. In a situation which easily could have been uncomfortable for both people, Staples found a happy alternative and created to a win-win solution.
During our in-class discussion about Staples' solution, some people pointed out that he shouldn't have altered his actions for others. While I can see where they're coming from, I staunchly believe that the results of his actions completely outweigh the sacrifices made. My naive heart believes that if everyone strove to create win-win compromises, the world would be an infinitely better place. Although I would be greatly disillusioned to think that the world would ever be all win-win solutions, Staples' short-term fix serves as personal inspiration to improve the world around me, no matter how small the action.
This a really interesting post!! I really like the way you describe "win-win solutions" and how you connected this idea to the essay we read in class. I also agree to the point you made about the way Staples changes himself has two sides of viewing it. I also think that short term fix serves as a way of improving the surroundings and the world.
ReplyDeleteCarol, great post! I like how you described Staples's solution of whistling as a win-win situation. He chose to compromise his pride for less suspicions and in the end, it worked. I agree that the world would be a better place if we could compromise in almost every situation, but it's unfortunate that realistically it's not possible. I think that compromise is such a strong idea that acts as the foundation for so many relationships and situations. It's great that we're even capable of doing so.
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