An argument with an old friend...

I had an argument with an old friend on New Year's eve. I hate arguments. I don't get my kicks or highs from arguments, nor do I believe you can gain anything substantial as a result of an argument. I know that there is a thin line between a discussion and an argument, and I know where I myself draw the line; I am sure though, that the line sits in different places for different people which is fair. I draw the line at disrespect, especially if the purpose of the discussion is not intellectual advancement. I am a supporter of the "live and let live" school of thought, I believe that you cannot impose a belief/opinion upon someone, especially if you are discussing a personal experience (as I was with said friend on New Year's eve) that they have been through, for that is demeaning and I take no pleasure in belittling anyone, friend or foe. However emphatic you believe yourself to be, you cannot truly understand nor put yourself in the shoes of the person you are contradicting. So live and let me live. 

This brings me back to the philosophy of existentialism. Existentialism rejects reason as a source of meaning. Disagree? Then tell me one thought/belief/truth that is universally acknowledged in EVERY culture, by EVERYONE on the face of the earth, and only then I will agree that reason can be used as a source of meaning. Kierkegaard saw rationality as a mechanism us humans use to counter their existential anxiety, their fear of being in the world. We live in a world that is irrational and in which there is no order to the madness; as much as we aim to create a sense of order in our daily lives, in our governments and our countries, we are intrinsically different and unique from one another, as much as cultures bring groups of people together with their similarities, their differences eventually pull them apart. 

So, do you think that my friend will see that her persistent need (verbalized in an argumentative way on New Year's eve) to rationalize, in her own terms, the decision I made at the the age of 12 to longer see my father is in fact just her her own existential anxiety manifesting itself?