This morning a post from my old blog came up in my Facebook memories, and I thought I’d share it here.  Perhaps you can relate to it in some way? 

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It has been a pretty stressful couple of weeks, not my preferred state of being. 

Stuff will always frustrate me in life, that’s no revelation, but it has been really hard to keep going without the way I felt spilling out and staining the people around me. Not nice, for them, or for me. 

The fact that I felt justified in my aggro has no bearing on how I mishandled it. I let it get the better of me and that sucked for everyone around me. Yuk. I was part of the problem, not the solution, simple as that. 

This week it came to a head and strong words were spoken, which left me reeling, and sobbing (I know it’s hard to believe – me, crying?!). But that’s not the point. The good that came from it is. 

After I had stopped bursting into tears, which took several hours, I took some time to think about what was said, what I did wrong, how I could do better and what I could take from the experience. 

I sorted through what mattered and what I could let go and I decided to address one particular thing that troubled me. I even wrote myself a little script to stay focused! 

The next day I initiated a conversation with one of the peeps in the previous day’s discussion, and with a bit of to and fro, I worked out what i had heard wasn’t what was said, and I was able to explain that what he’d heard wasn’t what I’d said – ah the art of clear communication…. I am so glad there was an opportunity to go back and fix that part of it. 

Misunderstanding others (or being misunderstood) has been going on since the dawn of time. 

No matter how clear we think we are being, when things get heated, and/or emotional, there’s no way to know that the person you’re talking to (or at), can understand you or vice versa. 

Some people in this world love argy-bargy and get a hard-on from being argumentative or provocative – I 100% hate that. ONE HUNDRED PERCENT. 

I hate it when people are angry with me, and I am completely undone when I discover something I’ve done has been the scource of people’s frustrations or disappointment. 

I never want to have a debate or argument as sport, ever. Just to be clear, never, EVER. 

So a period that had some awfully deep lows, ended up in a day of peace and productivity and laughter and kind words. I am so frickin’ grateful for that! 

And I learned some good lessons into the bargain. Progress, yay me! 

There’s something really powerful about going back to the table, and though I admit I don’t go back to every table in my life (I am most definitely a work in progress and in some instances a completely disinterested party in any kind of table read) I am really glad I went back to the one that was set before me this week. 

I came away from the second table feeling full – full of hope that I can do better, and be better, and full of relief that I was given the chance to speak my piece, in peace. 

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It took me a moment when I saw this post again this morning to place the memory, but I do remember these days clearly, and I’m still so pleased that I did my best to clean up the spill. 

Last night I was listening to the Little Known Facts podcast and Alan Alda was the guest. He said these words, and I grabbed my phone to capture them. I think they sit well against this old post. 

Enjoy your weekend, friends. 

Notice. 

Make peace where you feel able to. 

 

Annette xx 

 

PS #lookup