Better to avoid human paraquat or push yourself to abide them?

[thevideoartist]

I'm on a vacation right now that is anything but relaxing because I wasted it with my human paraquat dad.  I recognize some stuff about myself around him.  I do a good job abiding pretty much everyone but him.  For some reason he yanks the rug out from under me and I forget everything I've learned and all my personal growth and calm goes right out the window.

He's not the only person like this but I tend to avoid those people and that works out.  But then I got to thinking: is it better for our abiding skills to avoid those who harsh our mellow or push ourselves to abide around them anyway so we can be better at it when they aren't around?  Who are the paraquat in your lives that really get under your skin involuntarily and how have you learned to abide them?

[BikerDude]

It's like the old saying "you can pick your friends but you can't pick your family"
For me it's a mixture of abiding and avoiding.
Abide for short visits and avoid long stretches.
Luckily my dad is very easy going.

[thevideoartist]

It's like the old saying "you can pick your friends but you can't pick your family"
For me it's a mixture of abiding and avoiding.
Abide for short visits and avoid long stretches.
Luckily my dad is very easy going.

Or is it that you can pick your friends and you can pick your nose...

...but you can't wipe your friends on the back of the couch.

[HnauHnakrapunt]

I agree with BikerDude here, there is no single way.

[Chef]

Dude-
My mother makes Walter look like the Dalai Lama. I became so Un-Dude around her that I actually had to cut her out of my family. Having that kind of energy around isn't good.   
Keep trying to abide
Chef