Sunday, February 7, 2010

Awkward Bitterness

So you probably have that friend who is constantly complaining about how horrible their life is. Everything in their life is always going wrong. They never have anything happy to say, but you feel like you can't abandon this person who feels so depressed all the time. You know you need to be a good friend and listen to their problems. I have friend like this. She calls me all the time to tell me how nothing good ever happens to her. I usually try to be more optimistic when I am talking to her. I try to help her see the silver lining in tough situations and point out the things that are going well.

A few weeks ago, she was complaining about how horrible this semester was going to be for her. All her friends had boyfriends and so she would have no one to hang out with and nothing to do ever. I told her that this just gave her more time to come visit me in Provo (she goes to school at BYU-I). However, her bitterness got the best of her at this point. She went on to say how much she hated Provo and all the people there. She said they all think they are better than everyone else. I then reminded that I live in Provo and I'm not that way. And she was like, "Yeah, okay. Whatever." I didn't know how to respond to this awkward situation. I really just came to realize it is important to try to help your friends see the goodness in their lives, but you can only take so much hostility from a person. The best way to deal with it is to just leave it alone and wait for their next phone call.

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