Free and open educational resources for Afghanistan

Om Shanti and greetings of peace to all. I would like to share with you my story of how this book came about. Around 1995 I was living in Vancouver, Canada. I was working in a 9 ‘til 5 job, and helping in the Vancouver Meditation Centre.

Suddenly, one fine sunny day, I was fired from my job and was asked to leave on the spot. Two companies had merged, and the new company was downsizing. It was just a matter of time before some employees got laid off. In fact I was seeing people leaving every day, but I had not expected for a moment that it would happen to me! After the initial shock and a few tears, I took my life back into my hands and thought this is the perfect time to pursue the things I had always wanted to do, that was, to further my education. After making a case to the unemployment department in British Columbia, they approved my application for (a very expensive) course and paid for it fully. I enrolled at the Centre for Conflict Resolution Training, Justice Institute. The course lasted for about a year and a half and I enjoyed every single minute of it. I realized that managing conflict was easy and actually fun! Conflict was like any other problem, and to solve a problem you need tools and solutions.

My previous idea of conflict was that it had always been there and always would be. This attitude soon changed as I started to embrace conflict and apply some of the skills and strategies in my life. Now I embrace conflict instead of resisting it. In my usual style of always wishing to share everything wonderful that comes my way, it was in 1999 when I felt these skills would be useful to my wider network of friends and family. I wanted to share these tips and tools with them. So in fact this book has taken a long time to take birth. I hope you will find the information useful and helpful. More than anything, I hope that as you read this book you will begin to feel more and more confidence in being able to resolve your conflict because where there is confidence, then courage, determination and faith will follow. I wish you luck, joy, and harmonious times