By Elayne Savage, PhD
Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay
Seems like daily I’m reading or hearing about disrespectful words and behaviors from members of Congress or journalists and commentators or our President.
And lots of taking things personally and lashing out!
I can’t help but notice how the negativity seems to be spreading to the rest of us, even contaminating our personal and workplace relationships.
I find myself thinking yucky thoughts and making snarky comments. Words come flying out of my mouth before I can stop them.
Yes, I have been embarrassing myself.
I used to think of myself as pretty respectful — but these days, not so much
I can see what’s happening:
It’s a pretty good example of mirroring these various behaviors:
Bullying
Lashing out
Accusing
Arrogance
Insulting
Coercive
Discrediting
Discounting
Demeaning
Slighting
Belittling
Mocking
Criticizing
Baiting
Dismissing
Diminishing
Faulting
Undermining
Condescending
Interrupting
Shaming
Smearing
Spreading rumors
Excluding
Offending
Scorning
Contemptuous
Name-calling
Teasing
Sarcasm
Taunting
Verbal battering
Picking fights
Taking cheap shots
The “can’t you take a joke” variety – at someone’s expense.
Sarcasm, mean-spiritedness and rudeness can feel hurtful and rejecting even when they are not malicious.
It feels like there is a whole bunch of negativity in the air lately!
I know I’ve blogged about all this many times over the years, bug somehow it seems worse than ever!
https://www.tipsfromthequeenofrejection.com/disrespect
I was just reading a list of behaviors on how to be a Better Friend and realizing how respectful these are! Night and day different from being full of snark.
Reading this is making me realize how much I’ve been losing my respectful compass lately.
Actually what helps me the most is to step back and take a breath and remind myself that even when I’m getting swept up in the ugliness I DO HAVE A CHOICE HERE!
What are your thoughts?
Would love to hear from you . . .
Until next month,
Elayne
Elayne Savage is the author of ground-breaking relationship books published in 9 languages.
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