Tip: Drama creates trauma!
Have you ever noticed that when there is a lot of drama taking place outside of you that it is not long before the trauma gets inside you? The kind of drama I am talking about is when we begin to blow things out of proportion and make situations much worse than they actually are. Pretty soon stress kicks in, frustration occurs, and everyone involved is in a “frenzy”, all because someone created “drama” that created “trauma” for everyone else.
A pastor friend of mine once told me an interesting story that I think well illustrates my point. He said that every Sunday morning when he got to church, he was met by an elderly gentleman who was already there waiting to greet him. The gentleman was retired and since he had a lot of free time on his hands, he would arrive at church early and begin to walk around looking for something that was out of place or needed attention. He would find a trash can that had not been emptied, or perhaps a small area of the church that had not been vacuumed correctly, or a light bulb that was out, or an empty roll of toilet paper that needed to be replaced, or some other small thing that upset him.
Every Sunday morning, as soon as my friend walked in the door, he was met with, “Pastor, we have problems!” Then the old gentleman would proceed to make an enormous mountain out of a small molehill. Rather than taking a minute to try to straighten out the situation himself, or at least make things better, he generated some drama. He would create a gigantic “problem” out of absolutely nothing at all!
Because of the expression on the elderly gentleman’s face and the tone of his voice, my friend thought someone must have just died or that there was a grave situation that needed the church’s immediate attention. When it first started, it was upsetting to my pastor friend. In time, however, the pastor learned differently. The ironic thing is that it was never anything serious. It was always something that had been blown way out of proportion.
As I laughed about that story with my friend, I thought to myself, “I know a lot of people who are specialists in creating drama!” Rather than simply saying that they took a friend to the doctor they say, “I had to rush my friend to the doctor!”, thus creating a scenario that sounds worse than it really is. The greater the drama the more the trauma!
Unfortunately, the people who love to create drama and are always stirring things up will eventually create trauma in their own lives as well. If you live with trauma in your life, it will not be long before you are physically, mentally, and emotionally drained.
The group of medical personnel who work in the emergency room at the hospital is called the “trauma team” for a reason. Even the room they work in is called the trauma unit. That is because there are serious situations that occur which need immediate attention. As we all know, there are some situations that really do need that kind of attention. However, it has been my experience that they are few and far between.
This week, look at your own life and your environment. Is there someone in your family or in your business life who is creating drama? Be careful when you are around them because it is very easy to get drawn into their “take” on situations. Step back and take a deep breath. It may be that the serious drama they have created is something that could be handled in a more appropriate way before it gets blown out of proportion and causes trauma for everyone concerned.
Finally, perhaps you are the one creating the drama! I sure do not want to be that kind of person. But you cannot beware of something until you are first aware of something! Just the fact you are able to raise your conscious awareness of your own “drama effect” will be an important personal quality that sets you head and shoulders above the rest of the crowd!
I do not want to be unkind to anyone, but I avoid people like the plague who create drama, because I know it will lead to trauma in my life. It is emotionally and physically unhealthy for me. I just do not have time to be “emotionally drained” by their lack of wisdom or vision or ability to make a challenging situation somewhat better.
Why don’t you seek to do all you can to NOT be overly dramatic? You, be the one to create a peaceful environment wherever you might go this week!
Tip: Drama creates trauma!
Have a great week! God bless you!
Dr. Robert A. Rohm
