This Is What I'm Saying

In case you noticed, I wasn't able to write a post yesterday. Way too many obstacles. First, I must be alone in order to write something suitable for publication. Yesterday, this never happened. Others' demands of time and attention continue to pull me away from my personal priorities.

Everything is an emergency to the other person.

It's because I am a woman of peace that causes the difficulty - or impossibility - of making myself unavailable. Wrath directed towards me is inevitable. Am I just unlucky that these kinds of people are in my life? Or should I just face the fact that there are no coincidences, and I have created monsters?

I will accept another's observation that I attract needy people. That is a fact, and I am working on it.

I have been an enabler of bad behavior.

However, we do not choose our relatives, but we unwittingly can train them to behave in certain ways. The way I see it, we all attract certain types of people (for better or worse) into our lives, and those we are stuck with - relatives - we train. We teach them with our words, behavior, and affections to act a certain way with and towards us.

So maybe we can't change Aunt Sophie the drama queen, or Cousin Bob's drinking problem, or Uncle Bill's narcissism. But we can choose how much of ourselves we give them; how much time they spend with us.

As for the rest of the world, protect yourself. You are a beautiful, lush garden, but you need an iron fence around you. And a gate is important.


Working on it, working on it.