Negative

Why are you being so negative?
A great deal has gone wrong for me recently
That’s no excuse
I’m sorry – what?

Is hurting supposed to make me smile?
Is being insulted supposed to be a privilege?
Is losing my grandmother really a good thing?
My child is being bullied at school –
How should I celebrate?
Shall I try to explain it away as reasonable?
Or should I tell him it’s his fault?

What hurts – hurts
Hurting is not negativity
It is a reasonable reaction
Either to the realities of life
Or the unkindness of those
Who think they rule the world
And have the right to say what they wish

A reasonable person reacts ‘negatively’
To the negative
Two negatives make a positive
It is a sign of a healthy mind
An acceptance of that reality
But

Not all people are born to fight back
Never believe that the reluctance to fight is weakness
It is protection against becoming bitter
And believing you’re always right

Truly reasonable people cannot understand
Simply cannot process
The human ability to hurt and cause harm
When things are said to them
That they could never imagine saying
Couldn’t comprehend ever wanting to say
They are out of their depth
But then who wants to swim in a swamp?

Who wants to be dragged down by the attitude of others?
Who wants to be poisoned from the inside out?
Who wants to be the person
Who isn’t invited to gatherings
Who is kept away from people’s children
Who can’t see that their attitude is toxic?
Even the people who do these things
Don’t want to be on the receiving end
And you would think that would make them
Want to change

Instead they call right minded caring people
Negative
Whilst never offering a true positive
To the world

Kindness rocks
Unkindness sucks
Let’s live from the heart
And stop with the judgement

Deb Hawken
December 2023