Drama

Call me crazy, but the last thing that I'm generally attracted to in people is a high capacity for drama.  There are some folks who tend to attract it like a magnet despite their best efforts - but I find that these folks are generally also gifted with an incredible wit and way of turning it into something absolutely hilarious.  Some of my most Depends-worthy moments in life (I don't wear Depends...just work with me here) have been the result of someone's horrible day that is so incredibly awful that one cannot help but see the humor in it.  Kind of like how people laugh when folks fall down instead of going "Ooh, are you alright?" 

Big Dave is one of the "laughers" as is Jill.  I tend to just go into Prissy-in-Gone-With-the-Wind-mode...which essentially means that I stand there looking lost waiting for someone to tell me what to do.  Trust me, if you are in some serious trouble and need someone to dial 911...if I am standing there...I only hope that you have the presence of mind to tell me to snap out of it and dial the phone.  See, when the chips are down, "I don't know nothing about birthin' no babies..." or much of anything else when there's a crisis going on.  Now you know.  Have your emergency on someone else's watch.

Others suffer quietly along picking up the pieces of everyone else's life while trying to figure out how they entered that particular alternate universe.  It is almost like trying to rake a yard with massive trees before all of the leaves have fallen off.  Oh, you can rake and bag and it might look good for awhile, but then the wind will blow, and there's a fresh batch of stuff to rake and bag.  I know people who have so many bags that they really just need to either deal with the constant falling of the leaves (or in this analogy - drama) or cut down the trees.  Since the latter option is normally not available without some some serious prison time, and moving isn't always an option...they go out there faithfully every day gathering up the leaves until they run out of energy...or bags.

But then there's those folks that jump right in and stir it up...look for it...nurture and feed it...and then insist on feeding the masses.  The people that you cannot complain to because they will tell you something that they know or are dealing with that will make your arm hair stand up.  It is as if they are like explorers on some kind of twisted quest to live on the edge...to see what a human being can tolerate and not spontaneously combust...or burst...whatever.   It is these people that I wish could get into something like cross country skiing, mountain climbing, or lion taming.  Something that plays to their inner nature so that I could just carry on with my nice little boring existence.  Boring is actually something I cling to because I'm so anti-drama.

Today...without really meaning to...I ended up in the midst of some drama.  Oh, my fingerprints are all over it and it is obvious that I am involved.  But I'm caught between two sides that make total sense but also don't make sense at the same time.  I tried to address it with humor...but some people just don't "get" my sense of humor...and I suppose that's okay, too.  There's always some things about other people that I don't "get" either.  I won't elaborate here because that would be tacky.

So, here I am floating in a sea of drama.  Me!  The person who is a retired "pleaser" and who sees the big picture and doesn't freak out under normal circumstances.  I just plod along expecting the best and anticipating the worst.  Who read the tea leaves of the situation and thought I knew what direction it was headed.  And was wrong.

Wrong doesn't really scare me, though.  Because I have faith that it will all work out okay.  The worst case scenario here is that some people are disappointed.  But I honestly think that we'll come up with a solution.  We just had to get it out there to consider.

See, faith is a real antidote to drama.  I know that sometimes when you are being tossed around like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz during the tornado scene, it seems like things will never turn out right.  But eventually they do.  Faith makes that possible.  You just have to ignore the bluster and focus on the fact that you know who is in charge.  And it isn't you.

So, all of you drama inducing folks out there (none of which I'm sure have time to read this because they are dealing with...well...drama)...know that most of us are on to your game.  For those of you dealing with the fallout of someone else's "stuff"...I hope that you find better days ahead.  Keep raking furiously...or just give it up and let it be.  And for those of you who just can't seem to avoid getting in the midst of it in spite of your best efforts...bless your hearts.  Just don't forget to call me every so often and fill me in.

I can always use a good laugh...