Being a human person is difficult; we get sick, depressed, overcome with frustration, and we have to pay taxes. This is why sometimes even the friendliest of human persons occasionally succumbs to a jerk patch. A jerk patch is, of course, an unfortunate period of time during which a person displays the personality and behavior of a jerk. Such behavior includes: excessively biting sarcasm, malicious gossip, an indulgence in passive aggressive tendencies, and the refusal to share one's copious amounts of chocolate with one's friends.
What do you do when one of your closest friends begins to display the above behavior? You immediately ditch said friend. Ha ha, just kidding. Don't do that. That would be terrible. A better idea is to gently invite the jerky friend into an honest conversation, during which you explain how their jerk patch is affecting your feelings toward them. But how do you even begin such a conversation? And how can you make sure it doesn't turn into a civil war? The video below explains ... and if you don't feel like watching a poorly edited video, then here's the answer; just be as kind as possible : )
What do you do when one of your closest friends begins to display the above behavior? You immediately ditch said friend. Ha ha, just kidding. Don't do that. That would be terrible. A better idea is to gently invite the jerky friend into an honest conversation, during which you explain how their jerk patch is affecting your feelings toward them. But how do you even begin such a conversation? And how can you make sure it doesn't turn into a civil war? The video below explains ... and if you don't feel like watching a poorly edited video, then here's the answer; just be as kind as possible : )
One of the reasons that prompted me to blog about this is the manuscript I'm editing, Almost Friends. It's main character, Mia Reeves, is a huge JERK. But in writing about Mia I'm discovering that every one of her horrible tendencies comes from a part of her heart that's been broken. The poor girl's been disappointed by nearly everyone in her life and her way of dealing with this is to fight back at everyone and everything. She's turned to relying on her most basic survival instincts and it's made her something of a beast.
So, even the most annoying of jerks deserve kindness- they're broken people. When something's broken, you don't kick it around to further damage it, you try to fix it. How much more so if it's a person.
How do you deal with friends who act like jerks?
So, even the most annoying of jerks deserve kindness- they're broken people. When something's broken, you don't kick it around to further damage it, you try to fix it. How much more so if it's a person.
How do you deal with friends who act like jerks?
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