How to Deal with Difficult People

Difficult people seem to be always clearing their throat next to your ear. If they're not telling you something, they're reminding you of something; as the very sound of their voice gives you a rash.

Long term exposure around difficult people can increase your risk of: diabetes, heart palpitations, and a unhealthy fascination with slashing tires, blunt objects and Wicca.

It's counter-productive allowing yourself to become confrontational with difficult people in anyway, as this will only lead to hairline receding frustration for you. You may find as you begin to radiate your misery outwards, difficult people seem to be basking in the glow of your anguish like a solar-panel smiling back at you. Difficult people relish in their victim's tears or any sudden outburst of emotions the way alcoholics would run towards champagne corks popping off into a we're-not-alcoholics-after-all celebration.

The only way to avoid negative environments where difficult people are the spell casters and to rehabilitate environments once teeming with happy faces; is to counteract their mind-twist games by exercising the powers of laughter. Your laughter is the worst enemy for difficult people.

Consider this, difficult people want to be scary, intimidating, controversial, unpredictable, and can even take pride in the unsought title of weirdo, but never are they looking to be a joke. Not at anytime do difficult people want to be viewed as the clown, the goofy ranting idiot that has misjudged themselves to be a threatening and powerful force.

Your smirk coupled together with dismissive giggles and eyes twinkling in delight for their inappropriate behavior could be the mushroom cloud finally sending them into an identity crisis, but in order for this to work, your new mindset must be authentic. You cannot be the cowering cow pretending something is funny when everyone knows you really want to cry. You must commit to the idea your health and frame of mind is worth protecting by utilizing the power of humor.

Historically, P.O.W. (Prisoners of War) in brainwash camps that maintained their sense of humor, were and are, much more likely to survive while also preserving their self-worth! Look it up. Whether you're dealing with difficult people, propaganda disguised as news, or a cult leader deeming everything he says as catastrophically important; humor and laughter is both a defensive/offensive maneuver against difficult people.

The point is, by not taken everything so serious and always attempting to find the humor of a premise is often the undoing of assholes with an agenda. And difficult people have an agenda that includes sucking you in with negativity and verbal torture when they know you can't readily leave the situation, i.e. the workplace.

Humor protects hope, faith, our fragile egos, and our self-worth; having said that, our ancestors may have laughed at a storm that caused unfortunate things to happen, and is so doing, helping them to flourish and invent rather than perish.

Humor and laughter is the secret weapon making both difficult people and tyrannical governments to shake in their boots. So smile, and smile often.

Good luck!

From the ebook Social Skills