Walking On Eggshells

How to stop walking on eggshells. Start practicing the following thoughts:

1)     Everyone is responsible for their own feelings.

2)    I am not responsible for the feelings of other people.

3)    I am not responsible for the anger of others.

4)    The person who says “You make me angry” has the problem.

5)    When the person is angry with me, I do not have to necessarily defend myself.  

--Stop how much you are involved in office gossip---

Office gossip is an unavoidable reality of the world.  It is not always the facts of the situation; it includes statements of feelings and judgments.  If you are involved in it, give thought as to who you are talking with because whatever you said can get twisted, embellished, or just out and out distorted to something that you did not say.   

Gossip is frequently one of the forms of drama.  It produces what others get mad at and it produces what the micromanager uses as ammo. Therefore, I have recommended that people do not gossip.  It can stop the flow of drama, but does not mean that you are walking around on eggshells.

I propose an experiment . . . seek not to gossip for a few days or maybe a week if you feel so motivated but have your ears and eyes open to observe what is happening around you. You are not walking around on eggshells, but you are engaging your mind in exploration mode—you are being mindful of your surroundings and what others are doing.  See what happens to others and what happens in the overall situation.

When you are not gossiping, you are reducing the you are minimizing the likelihood that you are going to be pulled into the micromanaging boss’s office to be confronted about some distortion of what you said.   You are reducing the flow of drama . . . but again it does not mean that you are walking around on eggshells.