𝑯𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒅𝒆-𝒂𝒏𝒅-𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒌 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒚 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒅? 🐞

Imagine walking into your room after a long day, wanting to jump into your bed. You switch on the light and are greeted by a 6-legged creature staring at your face. 😨 

At this moment, when you make eye contact with the cockroach, it is quite scary, but what’s worse is that it takes off from the tarmac, flies around the room, and lands on your shoulder as a 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸, leaving you screaming. The next moment, this creepy creature vanishes into thin air. You get into bed, assuming the problem is solved.

The next evening, you walk back into your room and switch on the light, only to find your six-legged creature staring at your face. This creature has the superpower to 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿, 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗶𝘁.

As a child, whenever this 6-legged companion greeted me, I did either of the following:

🦋 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭, 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭. 𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐑.𝐈.𝐏. (𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐈𝐍 𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐄) so that I could rest peacefully; or

🦋 𝐅𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦, slept with my mother and hoped that the problem would go away.

 (But did the problem really go away? 😧 🤔 )

Two decades later, I can draw a strong parallel to my experiences with these creatures, people & situations in life that 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿, 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺.

For instance, 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀, uncomfortable reminders of missed deadlines from your boss, forgotten anniversaries (from who else, but your beloved spouse 😄 ), and never-ending conflicts.

𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐭𝐢𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞:

🦋 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘁: accept it and learn lessons from it.

🦋 𝗙𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗶𝘁: put your point across assertively.

🦋 𝗙𝗹𝗲𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗶𝘁: keep away from people and situations that you don't want to handle.

I know what you must be thinking: “𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔.”. Maybe your problems are spiders, lizards, or something strange. 🕷 🐛 

But remember, if you don’t do pest control, these things might 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿, 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺.