Your Loved One as a Wind Up Toy

Today, in honor of Halloween, I have a trick or treat for you.  You decide.

Let’s face it–no matter how much we try to stay peaceful, inevitably we have people and situations in our lives that make us CRAZY.

Am I right?  Don’t you have reoccurring events that always get to you?  Don’t you have a relative, co-worker or friend who knows how to push your buttons? You try to be ready for it, you try to control yourself–but inevitably you end up aggravated or having a big fight you later regret.

We’ve all been there.

These trying situations often get brought up by my clients during our weekly calls. When they do, we talk about strategies that can be used to avoid going to this negative place in the future.

During the discussion, I remind my client that if there is one thing she can be sure of, it is that the other party is going to behave the same way they always have.  We can confidently count on the people in our lives to be the same way they have always been.

Whatever it is that gets to you, it is going to rear it’s ugly head. The same fight, gossiping, bragging, one upping, defensiveness or drama.

If someone close to you annoys, frustrates, bores or enrages you—you are going to be facing it again.  I promise.

So how do you get around it?  How do you stop having these energy sucking, peace stealing, fight provoking conversations with the people in your life?

You picture your family member, colleague or friend as a wind up toy.  

Yup, a windup toy.

As soon as they start their tirade, instead of reacting, you picture the little key on their back and you watch them twist themselves out.  You think to yourself “there they go again” and you wait until they have turned themselves to a stop. Maybe you picture their arms going up and down as they go off in the ways they always have.

Being able to see them this way allows you to be amused by their behavior instead of being pulled into a fight or a foul mood.

Isn’t that better than engaging them?

I want to be clear that I am not trying to belittle the person who is the wind up toy. We all have our “stuff”. If you get me going on helicopter parenting, GMO’s or big Agriculture,  you can watch this wind up toy in action.

This is simply a trick or treat to help you get through challenging moments with the people in your life.  It’s a way to be left with a chuckle instead of a bad taste in your mouth.

So what are your thoughts?  Can you think of someone right away that you could use this trick on?  Does it make you laugh just thinking about them as a wind up toy?

I would love to hear from you.

Hugs,

Lorna