Punishing Those Who We Need The Most

It has been a while since I have blogged mainly because I have not had a pressing topic on my mind lately. However, while listening to my iPod this past week, a particular song has come on more than once and it sparked a new topic. The song was "What Happens Tomorrow" by Duran Duran, which is a much older band. Part of the lyrics include: There are times we punish those who we need the most No, we can't wait for a savior Only got ourselves to blame for this behavior These words definitely got me thinking about how often it is that we punish those who we need the most. Think about the people in your life who you consider yourself to be the closest to—the ones you confide in, the ones who know everything about you, the ones that support you when times get rough. Now think about the times you are mad. Who are the people that you put up walls to? Who are the people you don't immediately tell what's bothering you? Who are the people that always know when something is wrong without you even saying anything because they know you so well? If you are anything like me, you probably answered the same person or few people for all of these questions. In a way, I see it as we "punish those who we need the most." Sometimes in life when I am struggling with something—whether it was a bad day, I am mad at someone, or I did poorly on an exam, for some odd reason I put up these invisible walls for the people I care about the most to break down. Believe me, I realize that this makes little sense at all. The logic would be for me to immediately confide in those people. But instead, I seem to punish these people by making them pry out of me what is wrong. Maybe it is because I need that reassurance that they really do care. Or maybe I just like to show my stubborn side every now and then. Perhaps there is really an underlying issue that I am covering up. There are a lot of reasons why I react this way or maybe other people react in a similar way. I bring this up because it is something I plan to work on. I have realized that this quality I have is one I want to get rid of. Why should I hide my emotions to those who care about me? The people who mean the most to us are not going to be upset because we wear our emotions on our sleeve—happiness, sadness, passion, excitement, disappointment, or anger. The people who care the most about us in life are not going to care what kind of mood we are. But they are going to do everything they can to fix it because they do not want to see any moment of unhappiness in our life.