Love & Compassion

In my experience, violence always leads to more violence.  On the other hand, I have been amazed at the outcome to a potentially violent situation, when love, compassion and understanding are applied.  In a given situation, I have the choice of interacting out of fear and hurt or interacting out of love and compassion.  Fear and hurt lead me to anger and will stimulate that part of the other person, usually leading to a negative outcome.  On the other hand, interacting out of love and compassion usually leads to a peaceful outcome.  When I feel things like defensiveness, fear or anger coming up inside, I am better off excusing myself from the interaction, at least momentarily, and calming myself down.