Stop trying to win every single argument

You can spend that time and energy in more productive ways.

Photo by Tanja Heffner on Unsplash

Last week, one of my work friends spent half an hour telling a college student to stop posting so many bikini selfies. It didn’t work. In fact, the student started posting even more.

No, I’m not going to share them here. We all know what scantily-clad college girls look like on Instagram.

My friend gets into tons of these arguments. With pretty much everyone. Coworkers. Family. Students. She thrives on confrontation. Except she doesn’t thrive at all. She’s a wreck.

By the time my friend finishes arguing with everyone, she has no energy left for parts of her life that matter most. So then she’ll come to my office and describe all the arguments she’s had.

So I tend to avoid her.

It’s like she’s mistaken real life for Twitter. By the way, stop arguing with your family and friends on social media. And strangers. Stop it. Just stop. You’re only pissing each other off. If you want to trade opinions, do it in person — or at least email.

There’s nothing wrong with blowing off steam, or talking your way through a problem. Sometimes, though, I catch myself venting too much. Or trying to convince someone of some stance, just because…