As we all know, life is a roller coaster ride; there are moments when our life's trajectory goes up and when it heads down. And the nature of human beings is that they get more amused and interested by someone else's downfall than their rise.
Generally, people love stories. Storytelling is embedded in a human DNA. From the early Stone Ages, storytelling was at the core of teaching culture and tradition. And that became a huge part of human evolution over the centuries.
This is why Hollywood makes billions off movies, this is why Netflix makes billions off people streaming movies. A movie or a series is a story told through moving pictures. This indicates that people love stories, and the more interesting, thrilling, suspenseful and exciting the story is the better.
This is why gossip is the most popular form of storytelling in real life.
Gossip is a form of storytelling that gets the most engagement fundamentally through its exciting nature which is often embroiled in lies. People will sit the whole day in one place gossiping, i.e telling stories about other people.
Why?
Because gossip contains elements of thrill, suspense, and excitement. It is one of the most common forms of storytelling people gravitate towards.
But the downside of it is that it tells stories that speak ill of others, and often contains elements of untruthfulness. This is because the storyteller aims to keep it as thrilling and exciting as possible so the listeners can enjoy it. Thus giving the storyteller the attention and validation they need to feel some form of power and worth within the group.
Human beings find pleasure in stories of misfortune. That is why videos of people falling, either slipping from a swimming pool, falling off a roof, or slipping off a banana peel are some of the most viewed videos. People find them funny. They find amusement in such. So, you are no exception. Particularly when your downfall comes after you had an upward trajectory.
Now, the problem is that the storyteller gets a false sense of worth, power, and validation from the attention the listeners give him or her when they tell stories of other's misfortunes.
This is why most of those closest to you, including family; may eagerly be waiting for your downfall.
Why? So they can be stars in telling your downfall story to the rest. And who else is better at gossiping about your downfall other than the one closest to you?
As I have mentioned, people love stories of misfortune, hence your life's upward trajectory will never be spoken about as much as your downfall will be.
No matter what you may go through in your winter season, the one close to you will be at the centre of telling the story of how you arrived at your winter season. They want to be the stars of the story to those whom the story is told to.
Often, they will spew untrue statements and paint false narratives so they can make the story more thrilling and exciting. Before you know it, there's a whole narrative of how your downfall came about.
And this will bring some form of pleasure and joy to both the storyteller and the listeners.
This is purely human nature, which can be changed by the way. It will just take a society to be conscious of such and take intentional action to improve.
People will always be waiting for your downfall or winter season for it's a pleasurable story compared to your success.
So, as you go through life, some of those closest to you are waiting for your downfall. They may not say it and physically show it, but some of them do. This is nature, it happens to everybody.
The onus is on an individual to know this so they never get the shock of their lives when their best friend plays far away from them and speaks all sorts of things when they reach their winter season.
But the best story is one of a man who fell and rose again.
And rose above the lengths they were at initially. That will be a great story.
A person's downfall can be anything from his finances, relationships, profession and many others. No matter the kind of downfall, many will find it amusing and exciting to see. The only resolve is to aim to reach the upward trajectory again.
Aim for a sunny summer than that you had before.
In everything we do; we shall be conscious of the fact that when our winter season comes, the ones closest to us will be the ones telling how the season came about to the many others. Purely for the sake of storytelling. At times it can be damaging but that is the unfortunate part of being a human being amongst other human beings.
Therefore, never be shocked or astonished when the one closest to you becomes the one rejoicing in your season of darkness. He or she is the only person with the license to tell the story, i.e. gossip about your story to others.
Exactly man. people don't want to see someone doing good