Just as this frog seems to contemplate the environment and her place in it, we as persons attempting to resolve conflict need to be thoughtful with our work. Ideas for solutions to conflict take time to form, be understood and be absorbed. The people in the room with us need the time to contemplate the impact the peacemaking process will have upon them individually and in their relationships with others. In our frenetic society, the urge is to forge ahead and not allow for the time for everyone in the room to adequately think about the process or the potential outcomes. If we as peacemakers do not model the need to take the time to adequately contemplate the process and its outcomes, the others in the room will fail to do so as well. The noted anthropologist Margaret Mead once observed, “A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

As peacemakers, we are endeavoring to create change, if only in the corner of the world which appears in the room with us when we are doing our work. Giving the parties the time and responding to them with thoughtfulness is really a basic requirement for us to do work which can change the world for them. Thoughtfulness incorporates mindfulness, and mindfulness is an essential trait for the mediator to be successful in bringing peace into the room.