Contemplating hermitage

I hate conflict. I do not want to rock the boat, make waves, sail into a storm, or engage in any nautical metaphor that could involve drowning, even metaphorically.

I have therefore decided to become a hermit.

The way I see it, that's the only way to avoid conflict. Exposure to people equals conflict. I wish to avoid conflict, so therefore...I must avoid people. However, four things prevent me from following through on this, all found in the title of this blog.

• Learn - without other people to show me where I am deficient, why would I ever learn? If no one spoke Spanish, how would I know that it was worth learning?
• Love - one of my goals in life is to love people. Hard to do without people around.
• Lead - the simplest definition of a leader is someone with followers. No people, no followers.
• Live - the culmination of the first three, life is not, for me, worth living alone. Hard to not be alone without people.

So I'm stuck. I need people, so I will have conflict. Which leads to another thought. If I need people, and people bring conflict, perhaps I need conflict?