1. Reconciliation Ladder
My Trash
Your Trash
LOOK INSIDE
REACH OUT
Forgive & Let Go
Speak the Truth, Carefully
Right Wrongs
Ask for Forgiveness
Apologize
Change Your Behaviors
Change Your Attitude
Acknowledge Mistakes to Self
Here is a tool we can use to guide our process of reconciliation. It is a ladder, so we’ll start at the bottom rung.
We take it one step at a time; you don’t have to commit to the entire journey in order to take a helpful step.
It gets harder the higher we climb.
The bottom can happen in our head, so we have control.
The middle requires us to start being vulnerable by including a second person in the mix, who may not be aligned with our game plan for reconciliation.
The top seems easier, because it is easier to focus on others’ shortcomings, but it is the hardest to do WELL, because we have to CAREFULLY speak the truth about someone else’s junk.
You can’t skip steps. What happens if you speak the truth without changing your attitude and apologizing? [expect to trigger a strong defensive response.]