Compromise!

I have always understood that when two people meet together to form a relationship, two cultures have meet and you know it's difficult for two cultures to agree on a thing? It's just like a sea and ocean coming together, you know there would be stirring of both waters? Same thing with two nations coming together, there won't be peace until both of them have come to an agreement.

This is where compromise comes in. Compromise is when two people or parties come to an agreement by both coming to meet in the middle. This is just like two kids fighting over a plate of meal and when the mother comes to settle the fight, the best thing she would do to bring peace is to bring another plate and shares the meal. Isn't that compromising for them? There would surely be peace.

David and Joanne wants to go out on a date. David wants the beach while Joanne prefers going to watch a movie. They start to argue which one should be better. David insisted on going to the beach and Joanne wouldn't agree unless going to see a movie. At the end, both of them come to a conclusion to go for dinner instead. They both have reached a compromise.

Without a compromise in a relationship, there wouldn't be unity and it could ruin years of relationship. This is why agreement is important for both to avoid misunderstanding. You like adding vegetables to your rice, your partner prefers eating the rice with stew and you both need to eat together in the same plate. What do you do? You both should come together to agree which would be better for you.

When you go to the market and an item costs $30 which already has been placed with a price tag and you wanted the item. You insist the owner cuts it down to $20 but he or she disagrees and tells you to pay $28. It is until both of you come to a compromise before everything would be settled and if not, you rather turn back feeling sad or go with the price.

There are two types of compromise in a relationship which are positive and negative compromise.

Positive compromise is the kind that has the best interest of everyone involved. Let's take for instance; George suddenly heard of his long time friend Olawale came to Nigeria after years of staying abroad and after greeting on phone, both agreed to meet somewhere which was on a Friday at 6pm. George's boss ruined the day for him with loads of work to be submitted on that day. Then, he calls Olawale back and told him of the change in plans. He asked if they could meet on Sunday by 6pm, even though it wasn't convenient for Ola but at the end, they both agreed on that Sunday. That is a positive compromise because it both had their best interests in it.

Another example is a lecturer who prefers online lecture instead of physical one. Some students agreed to it because they had the facilities while other students didn't for reasons known to them. After deliberating, the lecturer decided to make the material of what was taught online and give to those who couldn't make it. The Lecture serves all categories of students.

Negative compromise is when one party benefits from the agreed-upon solution, whereas it doesn't favor or please the other party. An example is when Jacob isn't pleased with Tina's appearance because she has added weight but Tina loves who she is and how her weight is.

We need to know that negative compromise would have a bad effect in a relationship if no agreement is involved. We all want a relationship where both interests are served accordingly and peacefully and the only solution is to change or reduce what your interest is or perhaps find an alternative which you both have agreed upon so both of you would be at a reasonable opinion together.

Do you now think compromise is bad? I think yes because it may not favor both parties. One wants to go to a beach, the other to a cinema which of course is what they desire or want. When they shifted to another interest, it's painful to both but they just have to compromise to make peace with themselves and to save each other from unnecessary misconstruction.

What is your view on compromise? I want your feedbacks on this too.

Thanks for reading

|December 19, 2021|