What to Do When Misunderstandings Happen

Chances are good, I'd put it at about 100
%, that each of us is bound to have misunderstandings with our friends and family over the course of a lifetime. So what to do. Shun them? Kick them out of our life forever? Well, those are certainly a couple of options, but I believe there's a better way, one that won't cause us to run the risk of someday becoming a hermit. Yes it can hurt to be maligned and misunderstood, but remember that it's not fatal, it is completely survivable, and overcomable. Although it does take practice, which life will gladly provide. So when we mess up the first few times, keep trying, we'll get better at handling differences if we really want to.

Do go to the scriptures and prophets for inspiration. The spirit they bring changes hearts and perspectives faster than anything else I've found.
Do pray.
Do seek counsel from a few close friends if wanted, and then keep quiet about it.
Don't slam the door. Keep it open. Bake up a batch of banana nut muffins and be ready to talk things over if the other party is willing. If not, then wait. Wait as long as it takes for things to be resolved.
Don't contact them if they've asked you not to. Don't push it. Birthday cards, etc. may be ok, but be careful.
(Note: This applies to misunderstandings, not to every crime or major sin. Nor does it rule out professional counseling.)

So far, I am trusting this is the way to peace. Personal peace, for sure, and perhaps, eventually, to peace with another. If my ideas are less than convincing, then please read the next two quotes that blessed me, and that I hope will bless you too.

Howard W. Hunter
“How are we supposed to act when we are offended, misunderstood, unfairly or unkindly treated, or sinned against? What are we supposed to do if we are hurt by those we love, or are passed over for promotion, or are falsely accused, or have our motives unfairly assailed?“Do we fight back? Do we send in an ever-larger battalion? Do we revert to an eyefor an eye and a tooth for a tooth, or, as Tevye says in Fiddler on the Roof, do we come to the realization that this finally leaves us blind and toothless?” (Conference Report, Oct. 1992)

Gordon B. Hinckley
“It is not always easy to live by these doctrines when our very natures impel us to fight back…Most of us have not reached that stage of compassion and love and forgiveness.It is not easy. It requires a self-discipline almost greater than we are capable of. But as we try, we come to know that there is a resource of healing, that there is a mighty power of healing in Christ, and that if we are to be his true servants, we must not only exercise that healing power in behalf of others, but, perhaps more important, inwardly.
“I would that the healing power of Christ might spread over the earth and be diffused through our society and into our homes, that it might cure men's hearts of the evil and adverse elements of greed and hate and conflict. I believe it could happen. I believe it must happen. If the lamb is to lie down with the lion, then peace must overcome conflict; healing must mend injury.” (Faith, The Essence of True Religion, p. 35)