There are people in my life I don’t particularly like.

They challenge me. Sometimes they make me uncomfortable.

It’s tempting to write them off. Spend less time around them. Decide I already know what they are.

I keep noticing something though.

The best lessons don’t always come from the people I enjoy. They often come from the ones who push.

Not the cruel ones. That’s different.

I mean the people who disagree. Who ask a question I didn’t want. Who see a version of me I’d rather not look at.

It’s easy to call that a personality conflict.

Sometimes it is.

Sometimes it’s a lesson wearing a difficult face.

I don’t have a clean way to tell them apart.

I just know that ignoring them has never made me better.

So I try not to.

Better is a direction.