Not my Circus Not my Monkeys

Do you ever feel as though there is an ever increasing inclination towards ‘drama’ in the world?

Do you ever find yourself surrounded by people who seem to want to draw you into their current ‘soap opera?’

It is true, there are people who are proverbial drama magnets, who seem to exist in a perpetual state of self imposed emotionalism. Some of these are actually addicted to their drama. They have got so used to living in that ‘state of mind’ that to do anything else is uncomfortably unfamiliar.

But, YOU don’t need to get drawn in to it.

There is an ancient proverb that says: He who meddles in a quarrel not his own, is like a man who takes a dog by the earsIn other words, ‘mind your own business, because if you don’t, you’re likely to either get shaken… or bitten.’

At the end of the day the principle here is we only have power or authority over stuff that we are responsible for. When we try to take responsibility for things we are not responsible for we have no real power or authority to back us up. This inevitably leaves us feeling either hopeless, frustrated or hurt… or all three at once. Sometimes we can think that we are being kind or compassionate in situations where we are in fact just enabling someone’s irresponsibility or… endorsing their circus.

Bottom line. There are times when the wise thing to say is:

NOT MY CIRCUS NOT MY MONKEYS

Nick Gwynn

Nick is an exceptionally skilled and compassionate counsellor and psychotherapist with over 20 years’ professional experience. He is also an active member of the Australian Counselling Association. Nick has a substantial background in both private practice and the community health and education sectors. He specialises in supporting young people, individual adults, couples and families. Nick particularly enjoys relationship and marriage counselling, assisting couples overcome relationship barriers to gain greater intimacy.

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