If I were to have an impact on this world, it would be to produce peace. There is much conflict, which is natural, but so is it natural to resolve that conflict with peace. To expand on this, let me share some of my story. I have no memory of a world where my parents got along; at age five they divorced and my mother has shared that two years prior to that she knew the marriage was over. It seemed the only thing my parents had in common was their love for their children. This overwhelmingly made a large portion of my life designated to being the middleman between two disagreeing adults. The situation as a whole has taught me the importance of communication. When they failed to communicate, things went wrong and opportunity opened for finger pointing. At a point they learned communication between each other was far from ideal because once they shared their opinions, the other did not understand (nor care enough) and arguing commenced. Here, they failed to have compassion for the other. 

If I am being completely honest, they never reached a point of perfection. One day they would have the steps down: communicate, listen, provide understanding and continue to discuss a solution. Other days one of them was not up for the work, so they would excuse the system and say “they will figure it out.” This always led to conflict and, unfortunately, added up to more work by the end of it. 

After ten years of co parenting out of separate homes, the whole family came to the conclusion that the adults were so different that even if they communicated and listened, they could not gain enough compassion to compromise. The answer came to be that my siblings and I became the facilitators and we started making the rules. Sometimes our parents still have emotions, they are human after all, but the anger is easily distinguished because they have a greater commitment to loving us, their children, than each other. 

Looking at it from a distance now, I suppose, anyone can take the steps to avoiding outright conflict; communicate, listen, and be compassionate. As I have seen, we are only human meaning sometimes we do not possess the ability to care enough. When this happens, one should simply recognize that is how it is and move forward. Just like my parents recognized they could not get along, they found an alternative route to finding peace.