Water Balloons & Darts

In a recent conversation, my friend described frustration around the attacking words being used against her. Despite trying to make helpful and appropriate decisions, one coworker consistently made accusations against her, and she was bothered by how it made her feel.

Knowing some of the backstory, I was convinced that these attacks were trivial and not worth much time or energy, but my friend was obviously bothered by them, and I considered how I might best help.

I asked if the words of the accusations landed more like darts or water balloons. Darts are sharp and pointed and damage the skin and other tissues if they were thrown at a person. On the other hand, water balloons will not do much damage, but they will make a temporary mess for the person and the surrounding area.

My friend smiled and said it’s more like water balloons - they don’t really land, but they kinda make a mess. With that realization, it was easier to think about ways to handle the empty words in a way that wouldn’t waste too much time and energy. Setting up elaborate systems to be protected from water balloons does not make sense, similar to wasting time on empty accusations.

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