Got into a situation yesterday with people I don't know and am unlikely to ever see again. They were unquestionably in the wrong (allowing their child to repeatedly throw sand in the faces of other children with no redirection or intervention) but I didn't articulate myself well in the moment and quickly decided it wasn't worth my time or energy in engaging with them so i left. But they continued to speak loudly about me for sometime after i suggested we just drop it, even shouting at me as I left the area.
That was almost 24 hours ago and I swear I'm still in fight or flight mode. My chest feels tight, my muscles are tense. I keep rehashing it in my brain thinking about what I could have said or should have done. I'm reminding myself constantly this is totally futile, I can't go back in time, the chances of me seeing them again feel totally miniscule...so why can't my brain move on? I'm stuck in some weird mental torture groundhog day!!! Ugh.
Does anyone else do this? Any tips for processing it and moving on? Telling myself 'get over it' doesn't seem to be working!
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Why does my brain torture me?
Pineconepicture · 27/03/2024 10:37
Illstartexercisingtomorrow · 27/03/2024 12:27
Yes I understand this, but I think it comes about because subconsciously you know you were not assertive enough. And you feel a sense of injustice which is why your brain won’t let go.
Compare it to a situation where you did stand up for yourself properly, your brain won’t rehash that nearly as much.
RunnyPaint · 27/03/2024 12:33
By the way, some people are twats, and we can't change them. Withdrawing from such situations is often the only sensible thing to do, so you did the right thing.
Fifiellz · 27/03/2024 12:54
I do this, I find I like to have a good old rant to myself and replay the conversation to myself out loud while adding all the things I wish I had said, along with plenty of swearing!!
After that my brain feels likes it's been validated
Pineconepicture · 27/03/2024 14:38
I think this is it exactly. I blurted out something ridiculous (about their child touching me when trying to get the sand they had just thrown off) rather than actually talking about the issue (throwing the sand in the first place). I also think I'm just completely flabbergasted at how smoothly they turned it around so I looked like the unreasonable one. They genuinely saw no issues with their child's behaviour and thought I was being a t*. Honestly if they're not barristers they should consider a career change!
Illstartexercisingtomorrow · 27/03/2024 12:27
Yes I understand this, but I think it comes about because subconsciously you know you were not assertive enough. And you feel a sense of injustice which is why your brain won’t let go.
Compare it to a situation where you did stand up for yourself properly, your brain won’t rehash that nearly as much.
Illstartexercisingtomorrow · 27/03/2024 20:01
Withdrawing from a situation often is absolutely the right thing to do. Being assertive doesn’t mean you get justice every time, but it does make you feel differently on the inside if you are able to stay calm in the moment and make a deliberate decision that they are the crazy a’hole and they don’t deserve your time. I regularly back off from confrontation especially with road ragers because I know they are the dicks and not me. It certainly gets to me more when something/someone catches me off guard and I haven’t said what I wanted back just out of sheer shock. It’s worth going over the situation in your mind and verbalising what you would say next time. And next time it will be easier.
Pineconepicture · 27/03/2024 14:38
I think this is it exactly. I blurted out something ridiculous (about their child touching me when trying to get the sand they had just thrown off) rather than actually talking about the issue (throwing the sand in the first place). I also think I'm just completely flabbergasted at how smoothly they turned it around so I looked like the unreasonable one. They genuinely saw no issues with their child's behaviour and thought I was being a t*. Honestly if they're not barristers they should consider a career change!
Illstartexercisingtomorrow · 27/03/2024 12:27
Yes I understand this, but I think it comes about because subconsciously you know you were not assertive enough. And you feel a sense of injustice which is why your brain won’t let go.
Compare it to a situation where you did stand up for yourself properly, your brain won’t rehash that nearly as much.
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