How Tolerating Drama Will Only Hold You Back

I have a friend named Paul who has set up his automated email signature to read “No Drama.” At first, I thought it was an odd thing to add to every email he sends out, but then I realized how much drama we unnecessarily create in life. And it doesn’t serve us, our work, or our lives.

My friend is one of the world’s leading YouTube experts.

Companies are always bringing him in to help them make the most of their YouTube efforts, and yet he’s always calm, always cool. He never panics, mainly because he realizes there’s so little to actually panic about.

*Photo Credit: woodleywonderworks, Creative Commons

I find I create drama, mostly, as a sideways way of playing the victim. If I perceive a situation as harder than it really is, I have all kinds of excuses to procrastinate, be rude to people, or just turn in inferior work.

On the other hand, making a bigger deal out of something than I need to could cause tension in relationships and my career.

People are generally attracted to others who are calm, especially under pressure.

Self awareness is tough.

But I wonder if it would benefit us to ask ourselves honestly if we’re creating more drama than that which reflects reality.

Just today I found out somebody had stolen my credit card and made some online charges. In my mind, I made a big deal out of it, having to be on hold with credit card companies, having to call my accountant, and so on. And the whole event was taking away from my writing.

Instead of creating more drama, though, I remembered my friend Paul’s policy. Ultimately, the stolen card amounted to 30 minutes on the phone listening to classical music while on hold.

That’s really it.

Not all that dramatic, after all.

So now, I’m back to writing, feeling rather calm, calm enough to write this blog. And because I didn’t let the drama derail me, I even got this little life lesson out of the situation.

Ever caught yourself making more drama out of a situation than necessary? If so, want to commit to a “no drama” policy with me?

How Tolerating Drama Will Only Hold You Back is a post from: Storyline Blog