Growing up within the environment I did, me and my thrown together siblings faced some pretty horrendous shit and through it all, I learned to be able to always make a few jokes about the situation, rub some dirt on it and stand back up. I didn’t want to stay on the floor. Other than it being dirty, I found that being that low was not in the best strategical position for the followup beatings, both physically and mentally.
Now life got better for me but I never lost that survival instinct to take whatever came my way, turn it into a few jokes and stand back up. In other words … move on.
But there are some people in this world that just cannot do that. They seem to go to that place on the floor all on their own, without even being knocked there. Identifying the negative aspect of a situation and then bringing it up, again and again, seems to be their forte.
And I am not talking about a comment or two about how they are disgusted or irritated about a situation. That is everyone’s God-given right to bitch about things like that. Nope, I am talking about those comments that consume a person, and everyone around them. I am speaking of someone who doesn’t just beat a dead horse, they start to eat on them. They tear off a piece and just chew and chew those tough, sinewy muscles that never seem to be able to be washed down the throat. And just when you think they have swallowed, they find a piece or two that got stuck in their teeth and they start in again.
Those are the type of people that wear ya down. And no matter how many times you ask them to stop, they feel that the only way they can accomplish anything is to drag you down onto the floor with them. They don’t seem to realize that people around them come to dread going thru the problems with them instead of the actual problems themselves.
How do you deal with those type of people? Especially when one of those people is someone you love very much. They deserve the opportunity to bitch about a situation; that helps us all decompress when things are stressful. But how can one gently or gracefully say enough is enough when that is the only approach a person takes to situations? And is the gentle or graceful approach the best method to take? I am starting to realize it isn’t.
So, just like it was when I found myself in problems like this in the past, I am not going to dwell on it anymore. Nope. From now on, I am just going to deliver a swift kick to their head as I step over them and move on. I am hoping they will realize that they are only talking to themselves, and they will get tired of it as well.
And if not, well, I guess I will just rub some dirt on it and move on.
The Bad Example 