Removing Toxic People

I used to get my share of having toxic people in my life.  People who, one way or another, make your life miserable just to make their own life appear better.   

One of them I had to shove out kicking, biting and spewing venom.  He happened to be paying my salary too, but I didn’t care.  I ended up without a job, no income, with a wife and a two-year-old child to feed, but I could somehow, still survive.   

As it turned out, I haven’t done too badly.  That was 30 years ago…

Eventually Everyone Makes It

Once, many years ago when I was out of luck, jobless with a wife & child to support, I overheard my parents engaged in a conversation with a distant relative.   

He said his elder son was married and was now a high court judge in Singapore.  The younger son was also married but staying at home.  His next sentence floored me.  He said, ‘the useless son is staying with me’. 

That hit me in the guts. 

My parents had little education like most parents at that time.  They did not have an answer to that.   

Perhaps they could have said, ‘We shouldn’t say any child of ours is useless.  Perhaps it’s only that their time has not come when they start to succeed in their undertakings.  Everyone has to struggle for a while.  Some find their calling only when they have lived half their life time.  We just can’t declare them ‘useless’ just because they haven’t made it. 

I think, eventually everyone makes it.