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The other day, I bought sliced meat from the deli and decided that I needed to wrap a portion very well so I could store some in the freezer.<\/p>\nThe other day, I bought sliced meat from the deli and decided that I needed to wrap a portion very well so I could store some in the freezer.<\/p>\n
I took out a new roll of plastic wrap, a name brand, not a dollar store version, and followed the \u201ctear here\u201d printed instructions to unroll an appropriately-sized piece using the box\u2019s built-in serrated metal strip.<\/p>\n
But no\u2026.As I worked to expose the metal strip, it tore loose from the flap of the narrow cardboard carton. Then, I removed the roll, to attempt tearing a piece off outside of the \u201cconvenient\u201d packaging and couldn\u2019t find where the coiled clear plastic sheet began.<\/p>\n
I spent twenty minutes trying to pull out a 12\u201d x 12\u201d area then cut it with a scissors so I could have fresh ham the following week.<\/p>\n
With all the craziness going on in the world,\u00a0 I felt a little ashamed that I would be bothered by such a thing\u2026but I was.<\/p>\n
Whether I\u2019m dealing with packaging that doesn\u2019t actually make it easy to use a product or companies that provide no phone tech support \u2014 when things don\u2019t work as they\u2019re supposed to, I seem to go bonkers.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m sure my building neighbors can hear me through the walls and floor when I try to talk to Comcast to request they remove a ridiculous charge from my bill (like I did when a season of World Wrestling Federation specials was added to my bill).<\/p>\n
There are supposed to be five stages of dying (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance). I probably have my own stages for dealing with frustration.<\/p>\n
First, there\u2019s upset. I\u2019ll get anxious or I\u2019ll wallow in the thought of not being able to complete something as planned. Then, there\u2019s blaming. Sometimes, I will assume responsibility for an issue, even though others have a similar response. (I know I\u2019m not the only person that finds the lack of customer service or phone support frustrating.)<\/p>\n
Then, I will often slip into resignation, maybe toying with some working arounds but concluding that the problem is not fixable.<\/p>\n
I eventually move into internalizing. I can get to feeling being thwarted or frustrated is normal. (Holding on to feelings of sadness or powerlessness as depression versus letting out feelings as anger has always been my go-to response.)<\/p>\n
I have done a lot of work on myself to be more positive, not to get depressed or be thrown off by frustration, whether caused by things that don\u2019t work as planned or something else.<\/p>\n
But sometimes, I can revert to the habit of stuffing my feelings. I guess it\u2019s not the fact of the problem and responding by feeling flustered or stymied or inadequate, but it\u2019s my habit of stuffing my feelings that is the real problem.<\/p>\n
I can bounce back from disappointment or set-backs when I have a way to accept and release my feelings.<\/p>\n
Sometimes, physical activity provides some release, but demonstrating to myself that my feelings matter really seems to benefit from being heard.<\/p>\n
From experience, I don\u2019t feel renewed from this \u201cgetting it out\u201d process If my \u201clistener\u201d is trying to solve a problem, as if my life or my perspective needs to me adjusted.<\/p>\n
I really can tell the difference if my \u201clistener\u201d is not honoring his or her own boundaries. If, because of time or other things going on in his or her life, they can\u2019t be fully present. I don\u2019t want anyone to feel obliged to hold space with me.<\/p>\n
I want to thank Jackie for taking in my story about my experience with Comcast; Chris for understanding many old upsets about past relationships that seem relevant again; Dr. B for listening to my medical history as my \u201cstory,\u201d not just as fields in an electronic chart; and others for being engaged at times when I needed to \u201clet it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
I want to thank myself for speaking out loud.<\/p>\n
I need to let it out. I feel more in balance when I can feel heard at the right time. I feel inspired to pay it forward, to listen to a friend or a stranger who also has to get something out.<\/p>\n
Honoring your own feelings by saying them out loud is no small thing.<\/p>\n
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The other day, I bought sliced meat from the deli and decided that I needed…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7642,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[632],"tags":[785,780,784,781,54,783,779,778,782],"class_list":["post-7641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-weekly-blog","tag-comcast","tag-electronic-chart","tag-five-stage-of-dying","tag-five-stages-of-dying","tag-no-small-thing","tag-pay-it-forward","tag-tear-here","tag-tech-support","tag-tory","grateful-dozen-self-appreciation"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n