Summer Colds are THE WORST (well, not quite)
You know those times when a cold is going around and no matter how hard you try, you still get it? You still catch a cold as if it is passed to you. At times, nothing we do will prevent it, but we can still to shorten its duration and work to not infect others.
Last week, I didn't catch a cold, I caught a bitter, which is far worse than a summer cold. Bitterness was in the air. Bitterness is like a cold. It's contagious. It wears you out, has outward side effects, and seeks a way to spread outward to those you love. I tried hard to prevent it from contaminating me, but it was no use. I caught it. And despite thinking I was stronger than it was, it affected me and unfortunately I let it show. Shame on me.
I saw a quote on Facebook the other day: Bitterness is like drinking poison and hoping someone else dies.
The Devil is in The Details
Maybe you've been there...I don't mind sharing the details to an extent. Heck, too many of my friends already know the details. Someone decided to go viral with her bitterness. I knew her in a previous life, a different city, a different time. But here I was naively believing that this was all in my past. It's like the end of a horror movie when everyone is relaxing because the terror is defeated, but then suddenly, it makes a last ditch resurrection bid to scare everyone and leave everyone feeling they will never be safe as they walk out of the theater. Last week, I found myself once again in her targets in some public comments (some opinion, some bald face lies) about me.
Now, in my line of work, one would think I'd be used to such nonsense and immune to its effects. I sometimes think that to be the case, which is why I believe I caught the Bitter in the first place. I thought myself above such things--and, in fact, I'm just not. It bothered me that I was not in a position to defend myself. (Now understand the issues over which I was once again attacked were mostly silly, minimal, nonsense stuff--I mean really nonsense little itty bitty issues...but those are the ones that find a way past your defenses.) She hurt my feelings is what it really boiled down to--silly me! My friends, some of my family had to endure this as direct recipients of this public rant and I felt I had to remain silent. It hurt, I sulked, pondered, read and re-read the silly comments directed at me, and well, in the absence of any clear way to respond, I fumed. And that's when the Bitter got in.
Bad Reaction
Before I realized it and dealt with it, a separate issue came up and really upset me. I received a message apparently not intended for me that got under my skin in a big way. Now is when I realized I was out of control and had not built up my defenses and had instead, become infected myself. I took to an old form of therapy for myself. I typed a response to this new issue that was exactly how I felt. At that point, I had no intent of sending it. However, I got distracted, walked away to deal with something else. When I came back, I went to move my cursor to another line, I hit enter. Well, silly me, I wasn't using Microsoft Word, I had penned this response in the GMAIL--and it SENT when I hit Enter. OOPS.
While I cannot take back the feelings behind the message I sent, I would like to think with some reflection, I would have handled it better and used more gracious wording, more likely just stayed out of it. I've tried to sincerely apologize for the tone of my message, but I think the damage is done. I let the Bitter get the better of me and it hurt others. For that I am sorry and repentant.
You Might Feed a Cold, But Please, Starve a Bitter
So...welll...what to do, what to do. What's the point of this silly intrusion? A warning, be on guard.
Friends beware the Bitters. It's in the air. Love each other, forgive each other, but be prepared! Keep your noses and your hands clean--best defense. Be as aware as possible of your own susceptibility so you can protect others should you be infected, and eventually you will. And what of those who are spreading a Bitter around? Well, for the most part, be patient and loving with those who have caught a Bitter--you've been there too so don't be quick to judge. For most, it passes quickly and with love, health is restored. But, there are those who are chronic carriers and simply cause harm. What of them?
Sometimes patience and love and forgiveness simply do not work. Sometimes, for the good of the community, you must isolate the one spreading sickness among the people. It's just common sense. If you stop feeding Bitterness, it will eventually die. This means at times you must isolate yourself and I believe at times, you must isolate others. I believe that forced isolation should be the last defense but there are certainly times that such a move is completely justified for the protection of all. Still, even in this case, love should be paramount.
Achoo! Be careful out there! Bitterness is in the air.
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