Do we care that drama shortens our lives? No.
Do we try to avoid drama? Consciously maybe, subconsciously no.
Why do we do this to ourselves? Well that's a question for the ages. Maybe some psychologist will have an answer for us one day. People of the 19th and 10th centuries have been trying to find the reasoning behind conflict in order to learn how to approach and remedy it. Today all I can do is offer up my own experiences as a case study.
All my life I have led myself into a series of highly stressful situations, although very few of them had to occur and if I changed one or two things none of them would have been stressful. So if it's such an easy fix why didn't I make the necessary changes? That's an easy question... I strive under the pressure of keeping everything balanced while having as much fun as possible. When everything is working I feel confident and invincible. I was doing pretty well, until recently. I had just one too many balls to juggle and two of the balls collided in mid air.
Now this collision took one of the potentially stressful situations out of my hands and into another. This person had a choice. A. Ignore it and move on. B. Over analyse and become emotionally connected.
The choice was made.
B.
There really wasn't another option, after all it is in our nature to crave drama. What is it about drama that draws us to it?
Some believe that drama/conflict stems from our animal instincts, aka the need for power. Just as dogs will vie for being the head male people fight for power over each other. Raymond W. Mack and Richard C. Snyder propose the following:
"Social conflict is normally accompanied by a felt or actual discrepancy in the power relations of the parties."I would have to agree with Mack and Snyder. I can not recall a situation when power was up for grabs that anyone (including myself) who could take it did not try.
In the example posed above myself and the individual involved had just gone through a major shift in power. This moment provided the other person with an opportunity to regain some of that power. They took full advantage of that opportunity, and I can't say that I blame them. If our situations were reversed I probably would have done the same.
