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“Sometimes being a friend means mastering the art of timing. There is a time for silence. A time to let go and allow people to hurl themselves into their own destiny. And a time to prepare to pick up the pieces when it's all over.”
Gloria Naylor

Is there a right or a wrong when it comes to relationships; with friends, with co-workers, with family? I'm sure that there is. Any act of anger and violence or betrayal can be forgiven. But when do you draw the line and finally decide to calmly walk on the other side of the street?

I seem to be walking on the other side of the street a lot these days. It's sunnier here. Little clouds of drama. Where I once saw it my role to support, listen, and ignore a high degree of bad behavior, I now choose to do good when I see the opportunity to do so. Perhaps I should be more engaged. But the missionary mind in me has died. If I have any support or skill or love to offer, it seems severely lacking these days.
Am I my brother's keeper? Is no man an island?

Comments

Iktomi said…
i can't stand drama... :P blehhh... so i avoid people who tend to suck you into their drama. on the other hand, i try not to judge people. if they have bad habits or are living a lifestyle i don't agree with, i will usually just accept it as a flaw or a mistake and ignore it unless it involves me. i will give my opinion, and i won't let them wrong me... i am not a doormat... but i have no problem hanging out with people i disagree with. that said i usually choose friends i admire, for one thing or another, so that i can surround myself with people who will help me become a better person.
11:17 AM
kdada said…
wow, this has really been a theme for me lately, too, Tim. the people i seem to be most close with, who compel and ignite me the most, well we all seem to similiarly rub one another's dander the wrong ways at times, too. i see it like a dna helix. sometimes our paths are perfectly intersecting, at other times we are way out, oppositte the other, on the swing. we will pass away, and pass back towards the other, again. every time i make a judgment or abolute about someone else(reflective, then, of myself) what i learn again and again is anicha anicha, all things are changing. so i, too, like the fall back action of passive stance. o, frustration!

blessings to you fellow traveller
3:42 PM
Sophia said…
I think the change comes from fatigue. Well, it does for me, not sure about you. Drama is an energy vampire. I used to try to spend time listening to people and their dramas but it took too much energy. I feel selfish or even cold now because I can't do it to the same degree I used to. I guess there comes a point in time when we have to look after ourselves, too.

I used to have my own drama not so long ago, maybe a couple years ago or longer, but once seen for what it is who wants to live with it? Not me.

Anyway, I prefer to find other ways to help others, ways that aren't injurious to me. If I have no energy I'm not very helpful anyway.
7:44 PM
Anonymous said…
People want attention. Don't give it to them. It will spoil them.

Forget about being your brother's keeper unless you are Jewish or Christain. We don't have to follow their example. Megalomania is a terrible disease.
5:58 AM
Anonymous said…
Relationships are selfish. Stay away.
6:14 AM
tao1776 said…
Iktomi - Things; relationships...seem to get a little more complicated as one grows older. Perhaps patience recedes, perhaps wisdom grows..
Thanks, Kelly!! Anicha...so why struggle? Why question? It is what it is.
Sophie, I remember a book about psychic vampires; sucking energy away from you. Maybe I was sucked dry as a bone...
Anon.....you kinda freak me out. Perhaps its the language barrier:>)
7:01 PM
Leon1234 said…
Beautiful blog! Thank you!!!
2:30 AM
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