My mom and I were texting about the weather the other day and I asked her if they'd had rain recently. She said no and mentioned tornado warnings in a nearby town. (They live in Kansas.) Then she texted, "I HATE THIS TIME OF YEAR!!!"
I had to chuckle because she says that at least once a season:
During which season is she actually happy? Why doesn't she move out of that state, if it's so bad, every year, every season? Such passionate feelings about a situation surely require actions to resolve them, no? I use these conversations with my mom as lessons for myself to reflect on my own feelings, especially negative ones. Do I hate every season in Minnesota? Thankfully, no. I honestly dislike parts of Winter - the really cold days, the dangerously icy or snowy days that make commuting difficult. The length of the season. But the rest of the year, I love it here. If I didn't, if I had a reason to hate each season, I would like to think I'd take action, seek an alternative. Move instead of constantly complaining. Taking action is what I did when I hated my last job. I applied for over 140 jobs to get the hell out of that toxic situation. I didn't just stay and complain about it. I got out. When I was a reluctant participant in a writing partnership I'd never wanted, I bowed out when I realized the relationship was sucking the joy out of my life. I do complain a lot, as humans tend to do. But I try to be conscious about my choices and my happiness levels. I try to recognize if I'm just having a bad day or if I'm immersed in a situation I need to escape. I'm also working on finding ways to be more positive. Even if it's trying to find a tiny bit of good or amusement in a negative situation. For example, when a car was speeding past everyone on the highway, zipping from lane to lane, I thought to myself, "Well, at least he's using his turn signal when he swerves abruptly into the next lane. How courteous!" And sometimes, if it's an inescapable negative situation (waiting in line at the DMV, for example), the best we can do is find ways to amuse ourselves to bear through it.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
About Sally FarleyI'm a typical, hardworking Midwesterner, enduring (and sometimes participating in) the passive-aggressive complexities of life in Minnesota. ArchivesLinksAsk a Manager
The Book Designer Caren Lissner Dad and Buried MemoirMag Moxie-Dude People I Want to Punch in the Throat Sasha Cagen Social Media Just for Writers Swirl and Thread Categories
All
|