Have you ever heard this saying before?
“Don’t blame a clown for acting like a clown. Ask yourself why you keep going to the circus.”
While it might make you chuckle, it should also make you think. The implied analogy suggests that you should reevaluate and realign your expectations and actions. Obviously, you should expect there to be clowns at a circus, and you should expect the clowns to act like… clowns. So don’t get upset if you go to the circus and that’s exactly what happens!
If you find yourself getting irritated about the way things are, you should reflect on where you’re at and why you’re there. Maybe it’s your workplace, your regular hangout, your dating life, or even your circle of friends.
What is amiss? Does the blame really fall on a certain element of that environment that is not behaving as it should? Or is the behavior exactly as it should be for that environment… and it’s you who is in the wrong place?
If a clown at the circus is acting like a clown and you don’t like it, then that’s a reflection on you, not the clown. Something needs to change, but it probably won’t be the clown. It might just be your own expectations and attitude… or maybe your location!
