Bullshit can sneak up on you. One moment life is copacetic and suddenly you are wading through a cesspool of liquid injustice, manipulation, and general fuckery.
At some point, everyone has been the victim of bullshit. It comes in many shapes, sizes, and fragrances (stay with me here). You can dodge it but when that stink is in the air you can’t escape it. Bullshit can come at you from any direction. Family, friends, colleagues, and “the man” can all deliver bullshit on different levels.
The current focus isn’t on the bullshit itself. The focus right now is what happens after the bullshit. You stepped it… maybe you even slipped into it and allowed for a full body slide. Maybe you smelled it first or maybe it was deceptively concealing its stench until the bullshit was unavoidable. Regardless, it got you good.
You have picked yourself up, cleaned yourself off, and you are ready for what comes next. Here’s the thing about bullshit, it sticks with you. Even after you’ve cleaned up, you can still smell it. That stink is embedded in your nares and in your mind. Your memory is stained and no amount of spot-treatment is going to get it out.
What comes next can be difficult. Your instincts steer you away from the spreader of the bullshit. But sometimes that is simply not manageable. The spreader of the bullshit can be very much ingrained into your life. But no one wants to spend their life continually being covered in bullshit (other than this one guy I saw online… but I think that might be taking the metaphor a little too far…)
So here you are, post-bullshit. It would be advisable to analyze your next steps carefully.
Set Limits on the Bull.
One option is to take the bull by the horns. Confront the bull and point out your awareness of the piles of bullshit it has left behind. Be clear of your expectations. If you want that bull to take its shit to another field, say it. If you need that bull to clean up its own shit, say it.
Putting up Realistic Barriers.
Some bulls do not respond to reality orientation. They believe their shit does not stink and have no idea why you would have any issue coming in contact with steaming piles of their fallacious logic.
At this point, boundaries need to be established. Fence that fucker in and don’t feel bad about utilizing electricity if needed. Contact should be made on your terms and only when necessary. The fence can help contain the bullshit but the smell will be sure to keep you aware of why you needed the boundary in the first place.
Get Higher Boots.
Sometimes bulls are uncontrollable. The horns are big and dug into the structure of your life so deeply that removal is impossible. This bull is here to stay, along with all of its shit.
The only way to manage through this massive amount of continual bullshit is to get the highest boots you can find, strap them on, and keep wading through. Higher boots are your protection from the unavoidable bullshit. Higher boots are made by social support, positive coping mechanisms, and a little grit.
By no means should you be expected to spend your life dodging turds but the occasional pile is going to make its way into your path. Keeping the bull in check, putting up strong boundaries, and investing in a great pair of high boots can help reduce the amount of time you spend cleaning up.
Kira Gilbertson is generally awkward, uses too much dry shampoo, and is likely to avoid eye contact with you at the grocery store. As a wife, mom, nurse, and farm lady it is likely that she is sporting some bodily fluids that are not hers at any given moment. Kira has been farting around with the whole writing thing for a few years. Check out her work at http://tirednotdead.com under the pen-name Rnplusmommy and on all those social media sites at https://www.facebook.com/tirednotdead/ , https://www.instagram.com/tirednotdead/ , and https://twitter.com/imtirednotdead
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