I haven’t got time for the trolls

Marcus Aurelius said the best revenge is to not be like the person who performed the injury.

We all know someone who’s a troll, whose only purpose in life seems to be stirring the pot and adding drama to an otherwise stable situation. Their approach is to poke and poke until they can get someone to respond to it. And because the person responding has hit their tolerance, the response is like the pokes, but with extra irritation added.

Trolls succeed because they’re good at it. They’ve honed their skill set on the backs of others who’ve responded to their poking. They’re definitely better at it than the person who finally pushes back.

The response is typically met with either victimhood or intervention from a third party, who only sees the response–not the poking the led to it.

If you engage with a troll on their terms, you will lose. Every. Single. Time.

So don’t play their game. Play yours. Don’t let them set the terms of engagement. Don’t let them manipulate you and the situation until you become like them.

I’ve recently fallen into that trap. In a life where I’ve got other things to worry about (to paraphrase the great Carly Simon), I haven’t got time for the trolls.

I have important things to do today and getting tangled up in a troll’s flypaper isn’t one of them.