A follower of our social media messaged me recently and asked how I deal with the friends who moan about their lives despite having it a lot easier than I do.
I asked for her permission to share my thoughts with you all and so here they are.
I'm going to be honest and say that for me, its less about 3 top tips to deal with a Karen (sorry Karen) and more about a mindset shift.
"There's no pain in the arse like my pain in the arse"
My late Auntie Carole.
That quote has become more of a mantra to me the older I've got. It was a favourite of my Aunties and it reminds me that people (me included) are only really affected by their own issues and for them, they are often huge.
Sure, when Susan (giving Karen a break) moans that her child was awake TWICE last night, I want to say "try fighting with a nocturnal Duracell bunny on red bull 5 times a night, being up twice would feel like a friggin holiday!" But I don't. I remember that for Susan, thats a huge pain in her arse and somewhere there is a Debbie who would give her right arm to be up through the night 5 times with a child who died prematurely. (Sorry, that got dark quick)
Basically, I remember that my pain is someone else's dream life and I dont resent the mums who have it easier than me. They just don't consider how much easier they may have life than me because my life isn't their pain in the arse. We can only really experience the world from our own view point.
I genuinely believe that some of my friends who moan couldn't cope with the life we have anyway. I know that many of them would.
I wouldn't want that for them though and as much as I can feel deflated in a moment thinking "God, I wish that's all I had to worry about" I just remember my Aunties mantra and most of the time, it helps a lot.
(Sometimes I also mentally roll my eyes and imagine that I am flipping them the finger too but mainly the mantra)
With love from Our Altered Life to yours, Charlie xx
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