Have you ever played hot potato? It’s a game usually played by children where a small object, like a ball or bean bag, is tossed around and the person who has it when the music stops owns it.
It can also mean a situation or subject that people disagree strongly about and that no one wants to deal with so they delay dealing with it, or shunt it off on one else.
Have you ever played emotional hot potato? We take our concerns and self criticisms, our self loathing and project them on others as if they were doing the criticizing, and then get angry at those others because they are mean, judgmental and just downright nasty.
Sound familiar, remind you of anybody?
Thus we play hot potato with others and they have no fucking clue what’s going on.
This game, to get more bang for your buck, should be played with people with whom you are close. Then, they will get angry and defensive and prove to you that you were absolutely right. They are mean and judgmental and downright nasty. You have every reason to feel belittled and shamed and inadequate.
Then, you can get angry right back at them and everyone is angry and everyone has been burned by the hot potato.
Or… recognize how sad we are and how impotent we feel. Know that many people feel this way too. Sit down and breathe until you start to cry and blubber or just feel all of this. Then, call a friend. Go out and have a drink (Not drinks best beloved. Too much booze enhances the blues). Realize the commonality of these feelings. We can’t all be great writers, scientists, artists, etc. Most of us are just regular people. Figure out how you can change your life to better reflect who you actually are.
You are angry at yourself because life didn’t turn out the way you wanted it too. Join the human race.
Hello. Yes, this is Dog 