I just heard myself say again, “Come on, you piece of **** stupid machine. Move faster! I don’t have all day. Grrrrrrrrrr.”
Guess what? The computer didn’t move faster. It did what it does: It moved at its own pace, not mine.
Was the computer upset that I talked loudly at it?
Doubtful.
Was I upset?
Yup. The more I railed at it, the more upset I got.
Were my dogs upset? Yup. They heard the tone of voice and cowered a little in their crate.
Oh yeah. That made me feel soooooooo good.
Why is it that we whip ourselves into a frenzy over small things that don’t matter? We raise our voice, which gets hard and strident. We use words like “the worst,” “the most awful,” or “completely unacceptable” for issues that barely merit our notice.
And that language just makes us even angrier!
Our animals respond with fear. Our potted plants practically droop in their pots. Clouds cover the sun.
All for what?
Over small things that have the ability to drive us nuts — because we let them. We characterize them as the worst, the most awful, the totally unacceptable — and our brains go haywire. Our hearts beat faster. Our blood pressure rises.
We do it to ourselves.
Let’s choose a different path, shall we?
Let’s choose to hear ourselves and decide to make the changes that keep us (mostly) on an even keel.
Let’s check our language and make sure it isn’t driving us up the proverbial wall, all for naught.
We can bring ourselves back from the cliff’s edge. We can acknowledge we’re a little overheated over nothing. We can decide to laugh.
Because — after all:
Excellent point Susan! Now I’m going to be listening to myself all day long. The good news is that I’m not in a hurry for the day to go by faster.
It’s funny, John, but I thought this one would appeal to you.
I know through the years I’ve heard my voice say things that weren’t complimentary about me … and I finally woke up a while back and realized that even if I’d been wrong somewhere, calling myself a blithering idiot or some such wasn’t helping. It was actually hurting. I’m a lot more careful now!
Thanks for always taking the time to read and comment on my posts, John! Much appreciated!