Communication When You're Down Under!

If you saw me today, holed up in my room and wanting to talk to no one, you’d never know that I’m actually someone who is entranced with communication. I’m also feeling guilty about not having blogged for a couple of weeks, and I especially wanted to post a Valentine’s blog, but ended up feeling so not-well that it was beyond me. I won’t put you through a belated Valentine’s blog – as in, yesterday I loved you, but today it’s another story. In staying authentic to myself at this moment in time and space, I’ll post about communicating when you’re less than your chipper self. Maybe it’ll help to make you just a little more understanding of why sometimes others may be communicating the way they are.

Since I’m in the throes, I can spell it all out. My discomfort is short-circuiting my communications, so that when I speak, I’m brief and not always sweet, reducing my utterances to their barest elements, and caught up with saying whatever I have to say and not inclined to listen. I warn my communicative partners that I’m not feeling well and that I’m cranky. If they’re adept listeners, they’ll understand that that means there’ll be a difference in our communications. My brain’s foggy, so I’m searching for names and dates and words. I even notice that I’m holding my breath, so that instead of sending ovygen into my body and mind, I’m strangling myself, adding fuel to fire. As I’m typing, I’m busily correcting way too many misspellings along the way. I can muster the energy to sound slightly affable when someone calls on the phone, but when we hang up, I get to work criticizing and judging and then, realizing the downhill roll of this not-feeling-well snowball, catch myself. Knowing better, I accept and at the same time realize the absurdity of my negativity, then effortfully muster some sunny thoughts to lighten the dark clouds. I’d like to take the time to watch some humorous movies, as Norman Cousins did, afterwards showing the world that we can heal ourselves with how we think. I know our self-talk holds power. And that means that just as I’m talking less to you, my less than happy self-talk has taken over instead, and I had best cap that quickly!

The day’s young. If I’m going to feel better I need to steer my thoughts for smoother sailing. I’m noticing that when I take a deep breath, it helps me feel more open, patient and not as uncomfortable, and hopeful that I’ll feel more like being a part rather than disinterested in what’s going on around me. Actually, I’m needing to check up on my son and see how he’s doing. When he awoke this morning he was irritable -- complaining of the work at school, complaining about waking up early, complaining about our puppy… and complaining about a sore throat.