Stop the drama
It was the perfect storm—of drama. There was one person in my circle who seemed prone to emotional outbursts, pouting, giving others the silent treatment, and just generally being unpredictable. One day she was sweet and fun to be around, and the next, she’d be terrorizing someone in the group with one of her terrible moods.
Yes, she had her issues, but the rest of us also had our own—and we didn’t handle things very well. We spent a lot of time talking about her, analyzing her behavior, feeling hurt when it was directed at us, and getting buffeted by her emotional gales.
Believe it or not, this soap opera didn’t take place during high school, although all the drama certainly reminded me of the friendship highs and lows of my teen years. To be fair, my high school friends and I got along well overall and resolved our problems quickly. So maybe “drama” seems like a strong word. But to me, it’s a good description of anything that has us acting out roles that aren’t natural to us: the drama queen, the misunderstood friend, the victim, or the gossip.
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