Blaming The Audience

Can you believe this? A girl falls into a manhole while texting. You may have seen an earlier blog on our frustration with rude texters, so this one caught my attention. After finding out that the girl only suffered a few scrapes I was relieved, although I was frustrated that she wasn't paying attention to where she was walking-in other words she wasn't being a good ringmaster of her circus (texting is the wrong act for your lineup while walking).

What really raised my eyebrow, however, was learning that her family plans to sue the city! She and her family accept no responsibility for the young lady's action. What if she had been walking toward a cliff and fallen over it because she was texting. Who would be blamed in that incident?

While I wanted to be angry with the teen and her family, I had to be honest with myself. There are numerous times I seek to blame other circumstances for a less than successful circus lineup. It might be a person, an organization, the economy or other external factor. Focusing on those factors saves me from the tough task of analyzing my own poor judgment, laziness or just bad timing. It's almost like blaming the audience for a less than successful performance because they didn't cheer enough.

What about you? As you reflect on the current challenges in your circus, who or what are you blaming instead of evaluating your own performance as the ringmaster of your circus?