#inspiring essay: About a decade ago, I was enjoying a yummy brunch with my good friend Lisa, when she suddenly blurted something I’ll forever remember. “Your ex always reminded me of the U.N.,” Lisa announced. “The U.N.?” I repeated – not sure where Lisa was going – although she and I usually finished each other’s sentences (as well as each other’s leftover omelets and fries). “You know how the U.N. has all those flags waving outside it? ” said Lisa, “When I think of your ex, I think of lots of red flags waving in the wind!” I laughed. “Yeah, you’re right,” I said, “Why didn’t I see those red flags? I guess love is colorblind.” “You saw those red flags,” Lisa insisted. “You just didn’t run when you did. Or rather you ran – but towards your ex – like a bull towards a red flag cape! And hell, we all know what happens when a bull runs towards a red cape.” I laughed again. “No offense, Lisa,” I said, “but I hate that in this particular analogy I am the bull – when my ex was so full of bull – he should be the bull.” Lisa’s turn to laugh. “How true,” she agreed. “And I truly hope you’re gonna be better at avoiding red flags in the future.” When I returned home from brunch, I immediately headed to my underwear drawer, in search of my old journals. My goal: Review the journal I’d kept during this Ex’s Era (Error?) to more clearly see just how many red flags were signaling: “WARNING! PAIN AHEAD! GET THE HECK OUT OF THIS RELATIONSHIP!” Carefully I re-read each entry. Then, for every red flag story found, I drew a red flag with a red marker. When I was done, I flipped through. The red flags appeared slowly at first, making brief flashes of appearance. Then as the pages went forward in time, the red flags got closer and closer together. By journal’s end, there was a flurry of non-stop red flags. Or rather, due to my simplistic drawing style, what appeared to be little red hatchets – each waving up at me, menacingly warning: “DANGER! RUN! BAD MAN! BAD MAN!” Reviewing that journal was a powerful wake up call. CLICK TO READ 9 TOOLS TO HELP YOU AVOID TOXIC PARTNERS!
Posted on: Sat, 22 Nov 2014 22:33:19 +0000
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