The Circular Blame Game
Mike, his feet dangling above the city, opened his lunch box and groaned.
Todd, his friend, a fellow construction worker on the high-rise, pretended that he hadn't heard the groan.
Rick, more aggressive, asked, “Is it peanut butter and jelly again, Mike?”
“Yeah,” said Mike, his voice heavy with frustration.
“Listen,” said Todd, “You've been complaining about your sandwiches for weeks now.”
“Right,” chipped in Rick. “Why don't you just do something about it?”
“Sure,” said Mike, sarcastically, and tossed away his sandwiches. He watched them make a lazy arc above the city and disappear from view.
“Now you're going to go hungry for the rest of the day,”said Rick. “It wasn't a smart move.”
“Listen,” said Todd, “I'm sick of hearing you bellyache every day. Why don't you just tell your old lady that you don't like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.”
“What old lady?” asked Mike, surprised.
Todd and Rick glanced at each other. It was their turn to be surprised. “Come again?” they said in unison.
“I don't have an old lady. I'm single.”
“Who makes your sandwiches?” asked Todd.
“I do,” said Mike.
In this amusing story, we see something that almost everyone does. They blame circumstances and other people--for what they do to themselves. Because of the element of time between cause and effect, they forget that they did this to themselves.
People complain about their jobs; yet, they are the ones who agreed to be hired on.
They complain about their spouse or their friends. Yet they chose to be with these people.
They complain about their bank account, luck, or any other misery that they're experiencing. Yet they brought all those circumstances into creation.
So, unless a person decides to accept responsibility for where they're at and what's happening to them, things will continue to escalate out of control.
Change happens when we decide to make a different kind of sandwich.
About the Author
We tend to forget that we create the circumstances that we bemoan. By taking responsibility for being at cause, we can then do something about it. We don't have to be victims to effect.
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