To dive into any relevance of why a personality trait is good or bad, it is necessary to understand the basic meaning of the trait. Stubbornness, for example, is defined as a personality trait where a person refuses to change their mind and decisions, no matter what the broad situation is.
Stubborn people are very resistant to any change. Flexibility and adaptability are not their strongest suit or their first nature. They strongly reject any attempt to change their belief or attitude. When we look into the core cause for stubbornness, we find a few underlying issues that stem from the overall exposures and experiences from childhood.
There are other corresponding behaviours that make a person stubborn like:
a. Desire for control
b. Childhood trauma
c. Fear of change
d. Perfectionism
e. Defensive mindset
Being stubborn is not entirely negative if you are ignoring negative criticism or going through a tough life transition. Being stubborn on the path to improving yourself in terms of overcoming a bad habit or learning something new is at times necessary. A stubborn attitude is quite conducive in circumstances where your boundaries are not accepted or respected and you demand a certain changed behaviour from the other person.
But despite these positives, stubbornness is quite a negative trait. You see, the basic nature of life and time is to move forward, keep evolving and always grow. Being stubborn robs you of this feeling of flowing in life and gracefully accepting what comes your way.
An interesting analogy presents itself, closely relevant to being stubborn. The majestic mountain peaks stand tall weathering the tough sun, snow and winds. But the real charmer is the little river, flowing and making its way to its final destination. This river is not harsh, it is persistent. It perseveres to meet the ocean and thus, finds its way through the huge mountains, smoothening any sharp rock it encounters, only to do what the sun, snow and winds could not- changing the mountains.
In the same way, stubbornness can lead to a slow, but sure downfall because it does not give you a chance to shape, and mould yourself for the better. It gives us a false sense of ego, making us believe that we are the best and there is nothing more to our life. But that’s where the real downfall starts. When we become frigid- we do not evolve into the version of ourselves that we are meant to be. And then if life has a rude shock for us because it demands change. It demands flow and surrender.
Life can show any twists to us but when we have an adaptive personality and flexible approach, it becomes easier to grow and glow forward in life.
