Love Letter #13 ~ Other People’s Mess

Dear Self,

I was just out walking around my neighborhood park, trying to get some exercise, when I noticed a pile of fast-food trash dumped in the street next to the sidewalk. I immediately felt myself getting irritated. I started ranting in my head about how careless some people are. The mess was gross and ugly, and I couldn’t help but wonder why anyone would leave it there for someone else to walk, bike, or drive through. Why couldn’t they just take their garbage with them and throw it away properly?

As I kept walking, I started thinking about how some people move through life. They take what they want, consume what they need, and then get rid of the leftovers in whatever way is fastest and easiest. Sometimes that means doing the right thing. Other times, it means dumping their mess right in someone else’s path. Their lack of consideration becomes someone else’s burden. Either that next person has to clean it up, or they end up dragging it along with them, sharing the situation with others and spreading it even farther. And the more it spreads, the more people are exposed to it. How unfair.

Then it hit me—some toxic people operate the same way. They take what they want, and when there’s nothing left to gain, they discard the relationship like trash. Some people pull others into their chaos and then disappear, leaving the former to sort through the aftermath. Still others drop their mess at your feet and expect you to fix the situation.

So, I ask myself: how do I move through other people’s mess and stay whole? Do I pick it up and throw it back at them? Do I quietly bury it for them and wait for the next time it happens? Or do I simply step over it, reminding myself that it was never mine to carry in the first place?

I try to step over it. I already have my own mess to deal with—why would I weigh myself down with someone else’s? If more of us handled our own mess instead of dragging others into it, the world would feel different. I’m choosing not to carry what isn’t mine. I just wish more people would choose the same.

With love,

Self