When You are Pricked

When I was a junior (third year) in high school, Public Speaking was my elective subject. I loved it when we were asked to recite William Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice".

Act III, scene I --

If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?

Pondering on these reaction-to-action lines from the last to the first --

I hate the idea of revenge as I am not a vindictive person. I learned to embrace the maximum degree of tolerance when a person wrongs me and leave it to God who sees all. But there is a boundary.

Poisoning? Yes, we die if we get poisoned, so be very careful because even when dining in a restaurant, we can get poisoned as we do not know if some of the ingredients expired already or if they comply with safety and hygiene requirements. It is good that in our place, the government is very strict when it comes to foods and beverages being served in restaurants, coffee shops, mall food courts, and other dining places.

If you are in a shared accommodation, it is better if you have a mini-refrigerator that can be locked or if not, you can put it your own room. I do not know if there is a rice cooker that has a lock (?) which cannot be opened by others. A person out of his mind can put a poisonous something in it just to harm his enemy.

Laughing is good so the idea of tickle tickles me. There are people who are good at tickling others even without the real touch.

We bleed when we get pricked.  It is a normal human reaction, literally or metaphorically speaking. Many people love pricking emotions, then they wonder why the victims 'bleed' and react the way they do. This is the root of many chaos and sorrows.

Emotions are very fragile so we must handle them carefully. Respect other people and consider yourself being on their shoes, so you will not do unto them what you want others not to do with you.

A person pricks others when he tramples on their rights and values -- say, right to time, space and other resources. Will they not bleed? And when they bleed, the unreasonable aggressor still thinks that he is right and that the bleeding person's reaction is wrong. The aggressor provokes the victim. When the latter retaliates, the aggressor thinks that he is aggrieved, and will never talk on what triggers the real victim.

There is a husband who always hates his wife loved by many people. She was a victim of domestic violence and could not stand to live with the narcissistic husband who always insulted her. He asked her why she behaved like that, always silent and cold. She got fed up and tired, simply replied with a cactus image.

If a mother brings a pizza pie cut into eight (8) slices for her four (4) children, then one of them takes another slice more from a sibling's share, will the latter not bleed?

When an employee is not paid his salaries but the employer requires his inputs/services, he will starve and suffer the consequences of not paying his bills, thus he cannot perform effectively. Worse, he stops working and lodges a complaint.

Bad pricks are obstacles in our life. We get distracted because we are just human beings who can feel the pain of the bleeding wounds. We have the human brains that process things that we perceive. A person with an attitude problem who gets rude with us, disturbs us, even if we try to ignore them. Say, at least 1% is distracted. If he repeatedly does something offensive or has a contagion effect with others, so both can have multiplier negative effects which are not good for the mental health.

Kambiz Shabankare said, “Majority of people entering your life only come to distract you. They ain't there to be with you, support you or love you. They come to get something or stop you from the progress you are making. They are pricks for your life. Don't let them in. Or if happened to do so, make sure they understand that they don't matter to you. Tell them, 'you are a nobody, you can't hurt me because I don't see you, you don't exist, you are just a bad dream. I am waking up now and you are not there anymore.'”

The harmful prickers' bad deeds reflect their self-hate so the best thing to do is to ignore and avoid them to have peace of mind and attract positivity. Reacting to the actions of prickers will not change their attitude. You empower them with your reaction. You feed their hunger. Your reaction will not make them respect, care for and love you. So react with no reaction -- just the blank mysterious you.

There are many fools along the way. Imam Ali's simple but impactful line will help to deal with them.

Silence is the best reply to a fool.

We must passionately master our emotions. We get pricked, we bleed, yes. How we react after the bleeding depends on our emotions and has something to do with our inner peace.

---

Photo credits:  Pixabay