Over the last few weeks this has been happening more and more. I’ll be chatting with a woman, catching up on what’s going on in our lives. Unfortunately, the conversation begins to go as so many others do, and she’ll start talking about her troubles. She laments about her achy hip, her crazy schedule of running her kids here and there, her husband that golfs too much, or her failing memory.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’ll be the first one there for a friend in need, but when the same old story keep repeating itself, that’s when I know the real source of the problem. And it’s bad enough to have to listen to the same victim story over and over again, but just recently I’ve noticed a new twist; the conversation concludes in a way that I find completely unacceptable.
As their story comes to an end, they wrap it up with the words, “Oh, you just wait,” as if to imply that all their problems will soon be mine as I get older, as I am married longer, as my kids become teenagers.
The first time it happened I barely noticed those words, the next time I felt a subtle twinge in my gut, by the fourth or fifth time I knew we had a dangerous trend gaining popularity...some real personal-power zapping words! I think this is ruffling my feathers for two reasons. First, these women are giving away their power to make a change, believing that their current situation is just their luck and in no way a representation of past choices. And second, they are attempting to taking away the power of another (i.e. mine); trying to persuade another to believe that they can’t have a different outcome for their life.
They say, “Misery loves company,” and maybe that’s what’s at the core of this issue. I would like your opinion...Have you been noticing the “Oh, you just wait...” epidemic spreading among the women you know? How do you feel about what those words imply for your life? Do you choose to ignore the phrase, or do you choose to respond, and how do you do so in an empowering way? Please leave your comments and at the very least, consider yourself warned of these seemingly harmless, yet dangerous words, lurking among us.
Becky,
Sister of Soul
Soulspiration of the Week:
"Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life, but define yourself." ~Harvey S. Firestone
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