A turbulent political landscape approaching a significant election feels like a relevant time to talk about how we talk to one another and attempt to teach others. If you look at comments on the internet, you might notice the go-to method is shaming and scolding others for having opinions or beliefs that differ from ours, for making mistakes, or for generally having a different experience than our own.

You’ll see this approach everywhere, but what you won’t see is this method having any sort of positive effect or achieving the desired result.

Shaming someone doesn’t magically make them who you want them to be, but it does make them double down on their original stance, feel like garbage, or both.

When we lead with negativity, we get negativity back, and it breeds more negativity in an already over-inundated world.

We don’t need more people yelling at one another and spewing bile; we need beacons of light and examples of how society can be when it’s based on respect for and appreciation of one another.

We have been successfully divided.

We have been weaponized against one another.

We must take it upon ourselves to course correct.

It is imperative we as a society learn how to have respectful discourse and to amicably exist with others who are different than ourselves.

People are passionate, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but that passion can turn into judgment and closed-mindedness, and this is where the problem lies. Replacing judgment with curiosity and relaxing ourselves a little will naturally allow people to come closer to the middle and find common ground.

If the opportunity presents itself to share valuable information with another person to help further inform their position, here’s a helpful formula to follow to do so:

1) Recognize their point of view.

2) Provide the information you wish to convey without emotionally charged language.

3) Leave it be.

Hopefully, you’ve given the person something new to think about and consider and they’ll come to their own conclusion on the matter. It may be hard to accept, but sometimes that’s good enough.

Additionally, listen to others with the intention of learning and growing as a person. When we inextricably intertwine ourselves with rigid views, we limit our ability to grow as people. Our views and beliefs should be able to evolve as we do.

When we see ourselves and others as more than just our opinions, we free up so much more room for respect, appreciation, growth, and seeing the good in one another.