How Did You Handle It?

One of the blogs I keep track of is Soul Blessings, written by Tara, a self-described eclectic thinker. Her most recent post posed a puzzler. A friend is engaging in risky and rebellious behavior at work and reporting on it in detail to Tara. Tara is puzzling over her most honest and appropriate course of action. I’ll leave it to you to read the post and to make your own decision.

I include the link here because sooner or later everyone faces a similar dilemma. You may not have had to decide about ratting on Bill Clinton’s equivalent, but you may have known that someone is abusing public or corporate trust in other ways. Perhaps you knew a friend was cheating on a spouse. Perhaps you covered for someone.

Would you respond the same way again, or has your point of view changed with age? Stories of your experience with situations like this are self-instructive, and potentially a great way of conveying a value to others. These stories are also a powerful way of gaining insight and clearing the way for forgiveness and understanding.

Your situation may not involve ratting on behavior that’s specifically against the rules. You may have dealt with unfair treatment, or other distressing conditions. Perhaps you worked for the Boss From Hell, or worked with the Client From Hell, as I did at one point. I’ve written stacks and piles about that period, and added nearly as many afterward notes as original text. Rereading the stories always provokes new insights for me. I will not ever share these stories publicly.

Whether you share them or not, I urge you to write these.

The end of the year is an especially powerful time to write stories like this. For many of us, the last week in December is a time for reflection, self-assessment and planning. It’s a time of making resolutions of both physical and spiritual nature. Stories of conflict, with yourself as well as others, can be a powerful part of this process.

Write on,

Sharon Lippincott, aka Ritergal