I realized last weekend that I didn’t want to be nice anymore. I have always been the chick with the rose-colored glasses (Randy D would be so proud of me for remembering the hyphen there) and for the most part, I feel it’s served me well. Of course, I struggle with being kind at times, just as everyone else does, but I feel a sense of accomplishment when I’ve taken a difficult situation and managed it with grace and so I try to draw strength from those situations to help power me through the next one. The problem is, some people are freaking mean. Not just mean, but unpleasant, horrible, rotten beasts.
Ok, I’m getting a bit off track here… As I was saying, I have always taken pride in staying positive, looking at the bright side of things, finding solutions, trying to understand behaviors and actions of others. It’s not just a philosophy I hold, it’s the core of who I am. Somewhere along the way, I lost sight of that. I felt it slipping away from me and that’s part of the reason I changed venues several months ago. Stupid freaking sock puppets, disgusting trolls and nasty people.
Ahem… Anyway… I think we all have the right to be angry when we’re attacked, provoked, betrayed, lied about, misled and that happens to all of us at some point or another. This is why I try my best to understand others. In my heart of hearts, I think some people are just angry about how they’ve been treated and so they lash out at whomever they can. But what does the noble person do then? Does s/he kill the beast with kindness? Disregard it until it sleeps? Jump in to defend others under siege? Pull the mask off the beast, expose it for what it is and let the pieces fall where they may? Or slay it in a murderous rage?
A single beast can be ignored or sometimes killed with kindness, but when there’s dozens, tell me, what does the noble person do?
Just yesterday, it hit me. Sure, I was reaching out to people because I genuinely cared about them, but I had also been doing it for myself. I knew that if I was helpful, kind and patient with others, that there was a good chance others were doing the same, even if I couldn’t see it at the time. Although the undesirables of the world might have a laugh at my expense every once and a while, is it not better to let them have it 100 times than risk turning my back on one true person in need? The day I took off my rose-colored glasses, I let the others win. I let them change me.
Well, no more. I’m declaring war on sockpuppets, trolls and nasty people in general, but I’m doing with my rose-colored glasses on and I’m doing it MY way. (And if they get to wear disguises, so do I.) I’m handing out free pairs of rose-colored glasses again. Let me know if you’d like a pair. ^_^
I think a pair of these bad boys is going to wind up on The Mug. :D
