Disrespectful Family – 4 Tips For Dealing With Disrespect
Dealing with a disrespectful family? Here’s exactly how to deal with family members that constantly disrespect you.
Let’s chat about a disrespectful family.
While some families may look perfect from the outside, the truth is that perfection is hardly ever the case.
Do you know why that may be the case?
Because true perfection does not exist!
Whether you rarely encounter challenges with family members, or suffer daily as personalities collide, the good news is that there are strategies you can use to effectively get past these difficulties.
If you’re constantly stressed out when dealing with certain family members, it’s important to realize that you ultimately can’t change them.
The best thing you can do for yourself is to work on your own issues and help yourself to better deal with situations that may arise.
This way you’ll be happier in the long run.
Remember while you can’t control other people, you CAN control your own thoughts about them and choose to think of them in more loving and forgiving ways.
Here’s how to do it:
DISRESPECTFUL FAMILY
TIP # 1 – Acquiring Understanding
Everyone can benefit from strengthening their understanding skills.
Understanding is actually a difficult skill to acquire because it may not be easy to put yourself into another’s shoes.
After all, if you don’t feel a certain way, how can you really know what it feels like?
One fact that can help you develop a greater understanding is that different people have different needs.
Sometimes, when you’re trying to get your needs met, you may end up ignoring the needs of someone else.
Ask yourself if your conflicts arise from differing needs.
When you face a disagreement with a family member, instead of reacting in anger, take a step back to evaluate the situation.
See if you can figure out why the other person feels the way they do.
What is making them behave in that particular way?
Maybe you’re wiser and the other person just hasn’t encountered all of the life lessons that you’ve experienced.
Perhaps you aren’t aware of what they’ve gone through, and you could give them the benefit of the doubt.
It’s tough to be understanding when you know you’re the one not reacting with logic and kindness.
But part of loving people unconditionally entails sometimes means having to be the stronger, more forgiving and compassionate person.
Sometimes, you may feel that you must prove yourself right and keep fighting until the other person understands your perspective.
However, when you’ve mastered the art of understanding, you’ll realize that it actually doesn’t really matter what the other person thinks.
Instead you will stop and take a deep breath and just try to find a peace between you.
Are you willing to put aside your grievances for a second and let your love flow without conditions?
Are you willing to be happy instead of always needing to be right?
DISRESPECTFUL FAMILY
TIP # 2 – Keeping the Peace
A part of understanding is learning how to keep the peace.
If you’re dealing with a difficult family member that you only see once in a while, it should be relatively easy for you to find that peace temporarily.
If you go into the situation with a positive mindset, you’ll be better able to put your differences aside for the duration of the visit.
DISRESPECTFUL FAMILY
Your family members are allowed to have different opinions from you.
They are allowed to have their own thoughts and feelings.
They are allowed to be different.
What would it feel like to just feel peace instead?
What would it feel like to temporarily put your differences aside?
If a situation arises where you would ordinarily react in anger, remember to take some deep breaths before you say anything.
If you’re too tempted to fight back, remove yourself from the situation altogether and go outside to calm yourself.
It’s more difficult to keep the peace when you’re having conflicts with a family member whom you see with regularity.
In fact, these challenges may be causing you a great deal of stress.
Instead of continuing to fight about who’s right, it may be best to just agree to disagree and understand that the other person has a different perspective.
Sometimes it is easier to just agree to disagree.
DISRESPECTFUL FAMILY
TIP # 3 – You can also achieve peace by compromising.
For example, if a family member gets what they want one time, a fair compromise may be that you get your way the next time.
The best compromises are win-win solutions where everyone walks away satisfied.
The true definition of compromise is a little give, a little take.
Compromise is not about losing. It is about deciding that the other person has just as much right to be happy with the end result as you do. Donna Martini
Compromising doesn’t mean that you are wrong and someone is right. It only means that you value your relationship much more than your ego.
No relationship is perfect ever. There is always some ways you have to bend, to compromise, to give something up in order to gain something greater. Sarah Dessen
DISRESPECTFUL FAMILY
In the end, you need to be creative in seeking agreeable solutions.
Do so and you may find that your conflicts no longer exist.
Yay!
That is a great thing if you can manage to find a way to having more peaceful interactions.
DISRESPECTFUL FAMILY
TIP # 4 – Oftentimes it starts by having more peace with yourself.
You can start by stopping the expectation or requirement that other people need to change or be different in order to be happy yourself.
What if it isn’t THEM that needs to change but YOU?
What if YOU changed your thoughts about people?
What if you changed the way you feel about others?
What if you started to feel strong and secure enough in yourself that other people’s actions no longer hurt you in a negative way?
Yes, sometimes you may feel like nothing can be done to mend your relationship with the difficult person.
Many times, though, once you start trying to resolve the situation peacefully, your difficult family members begin to make an effort as well.
After all, you are indeed family, you are in control of your thoughts and feelings and the ties that bind you together are stronger than the forces that try to pull you apart so it is worth working towards strengthening those relationships.
I wish you the best of luck with your endeavours.
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With a degree in psychology, Frances Vidakovic is a certified life coach, course creator and host of the Inspiring Life Podcast. Her superpower is transforming dreamers into doers, with simple, kick-up-the-butt strategies.