When did it become a badge of honor to act like a whiny crybaby?
Although I avoided it as much as possible, I was occasionally bullied as a kid – by my sister, by classmates, and even by some of my friends. Sometimes I was teased. Other times I was “tortured” (pinched, scratched, punched etc).
I didn’t run to my mother. I didn’t tell the teacher. I didn’t cry about it. All of that would have been too embarrassing and would make it worse.
Instead, like most kids, I dealt with it. I figured out how to avoid these situations. I had some fights. I made better friends.
I learned to stand up for myself and draw lines in the sand.
I would never have learned to deal with confrontation, fear or unpleasant people if I had just complained that I was being treated unfairly.
Instead, I needed to do something if I wanted the bullying to stop.
Throughout my life, I’ve faced many challenges.
What I’ve come to realize is that complaining about them never made things better. Believe me, I tried this – just ask my poor my wife!
Instead, I learned how to take action to overcome some challenges. I learned that there were others that I couldn’t change and had to accept.
Both of these are invaluable.
So today, when I see President Trump complaining on Twitter about how he’s “treated so unfairly” or when I see others on TV protesting over some minor grievance, I have to wonder if we’re rewarding the wrong behavior by paying attention to this.
I could write about this for hours, but then I’d be acting like a whiny crybaby myself.
So instead I’m taking action.
I quit Twitter a while ago. I’ve mostly stopped reading news online. I think I’ll stop watching the news on TV too.