Conflicts between two or more living persons are sometimes very difficult to manage. So imagine when the conflict continues after death! And when that conflict poisons your life and influence your everyday choices, sometimes you just have to seek help before ghosts of the past destroy your present.
But the afterlife of an unsolved conflict happens more often than we want to acknowledge it. As mediators how many times did we have the impression that some dormant and unspoken issues of our clients' lives come to haunt them and affect the outcome of the mediation?
I met many cases especially in the business world, and mostly in family businesses, where a son, a daughter, a sister, a friend, a business partner cannot take the responsibility of their present decisions and settlements because of a dead father, mother, uncle, brother, partner that they were afraid to disappoint even after his (her) death.
Empowering the living, disempowering the dead also means to invest in the present and the future and let go of the past when needed.
Nice point made. Emotions related to a loss should not interfere with the future of a family business, or any business for that matter. I'm pretty sure they do, though!
ReplyDeleteI very often think about ways in which my past affects my everyday life. The topic you wrote about is SO important, due to the fact that the past is difficult to let go of at times. It is very interesting that you mentioned those who do not want to deceive their deceased loved ones. I had never before thought of mediation in terms of relationships between the living and the dead, and this brings such an interesting perspective!
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