DEALING WITH EGOISTS

What happens when someone feels that whatever you do is suspect, unless they are involved; unless they see things in the same light?

Be it your colleague, your boss (what we normally call a control freak), or a member of your family who thinks -- and believes -- that he/she is better than you are in whatever you're doing?

It's really a waste of time, but something which we have to accept, accommodate or even appease (perhaps its the "devil" in them which we have to appease).

The thing I keep telling myself when faced with situations like these is to stick to my guns, stick to my principles, yet accord a certain amount of room for each to maneuver (for the sake of face saving, as the Chinese and perhaps even the Javanese call it); for breaking or upsetting that "balance" will certainly result in more dire and often unpredictable consequences.

But why do people need to impose upon others? Why do people have to "question" others' actions and intentions when they have no clue as to the reasons behind them? If it isn't the devil in one pushing one toward egoistical boundaries, then the sun must rise from the West.
Very often, these people don't wish to listen or think about reasons too.

I deal with people like that each day. And I'm sure you do. Honestly I don't have any solutions to offer, other than to play the game, remain patient, or pretend to remain patient, and move on. There's no sense in stressing oneself, I thought; for these people are beyond reason and cannot be treated as rational people.

When they are your colleagues, your boss, your family, more complications set in; for you will have to deal with them day in and day out. Nevertheless, as long as we realize and remember that they are not the ones who will bring about the end of this world, they are not the ones who will make or break our futures (for our futures will always be in our own hands), and that they are not the ones will make the world go round, we are in a good position to move ahead.

Life is always about moving ahead. A friend of mine refers to obstacles as "minor irritations" or "minor hurdles" which are a part and parcel of everyone's lives. So be it.

The next time you have to deal with an egoist or whatever you choose to call him/her, just remember that you're not alone.