Some more types of problems
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010My friend Benjamin Jagear used to always say to me, “Pixel – look at all of the problems in your life and ask yourself: how many of those problems were caused by your enemies and how many can be traced back to your friends?”
The idea was simple: your enemies, in real life, tend to steer clear of you. They might harbor feelings of revenge and cut up the cords to all of your office electronics or drive by at night, slowly, to scare you. But they don’t really take a big enough part of your life for it to matter.
Your friends, on the other hand, do. And since they’re your friends, they have a way of making their problems yours. Say your friend is arrested and he needs bail money. That problem– which you had no involvement in! (that they can prove) – has just become your problem too. Say they’re dealing with girl drama. That problem– which you totally didn’t cause– is now yours.