Do Not Engage: 10 Good Reasons Not To Feed Into An Argument - Page 3

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In life, disagreements are inevitable, arguments are not. There are ways to effectively communicate your point without getting involved in a heated war of words. Most arguments are pointless. They’re unproductive, they’re upsetting, and they have the potential to be destructive. With a little restraint, the majority of arguments can and should be avoided. Here are ten good reasons why:

Arguing rarely accomplishes anything

In many cases, arguing accomplishes nothing because neither party is truly interested in hearing what the other person has to say. Instead, both sides are trying to argue their point, only listening to respond and not to understand. The chances of you winning over your opponent or getting them to see things your way is low. You can’t cultivate empathy where there is none.

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Arguing weakens relationships

It’s natural to get into disagreements with the people you care about; however, frequent arguing and bickering will erode the foundation of your relationship over time. There is a way to constructively disagree and there is a way to fight fair, but at a certain point, it all becomes too much. People desire peace in their relationships—both romantic and platonic.

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You already know that you’re right

We all know people who make a practice of being strong and wrong. They are highly confident and are a frequent source of misinformation. There really is no point in wasting your breath and arguing with these people who are committed to chaos and confusion. Just know what you know.

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You’re trying to manage stress

A study conducted by the University of California Irvine found that arguing leads to increased blood pressure, stress on the body, and greater health problems later in life.

“Exposure to emotional stress may be of greater potential harm to cardiovascular health than stresses that lack emotion, even though both types of stress may have provoked the same initial responses,” said Laura Glynn, UCI assistant professor of psychiatry. “Preventing the damaging effects of stress may involve not only reducing exposure to stressors, but also reducing opportunities to ruminate over past stress.”

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You’ve been having a good day

Some days are better than others and when your day is going particularly well, it’s a great motivator to avoid getting involved in meaningless arguments when you know someone is trying to bait you. There’s no point in ruining your day by getting into petty feuds with people. Some things are just better left unsaid.

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You have things to do

“I don’t have time for this” is not an empty rebuttal. Sometimes there really aren’t enough hours in the day to handle all that you’re responsible for. On those days, you definitely can’t afford to slow down and argue with people. It’s not worth the trouble and you don’t have the time.

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You’re genuinely happy

Any time things are going well for you, negativity has a way of showing up in your life and it’s usually by way of conflict with others. The only sure way to keep this negativity from ruining your happiness is by refusing to engage with it in the first place.

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You have nothing to prove

Some people attempt to bait people into arguments because it makes them feel superior and smarter. However, when you nothing to prove, there’s no point in even feeding into these silly meaningless debates with people who start them for entertainment reasons. Save your energy for something more worthwhile.

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You have too much to lose

Arguing is not appropriate for every setting — especially professional ones. You might be well within your right to tell a person about themselves, but consider what you might be giving up in the process. Engaging in nasty feuds can damage your reputation and cause you to lose respect in the eyes of your colleagues.