When the Mood Strikes

I’m in a mood. It is not a good one and it is not a bad one, it is a “Meh” mood. I am annoying myself, so I cannot imagine what it is doing to those around me. I find myself talking louder and more aggressively and to add more fun to the mix I seem to get irritated very easily.  I think I am fighting some kind of inner battle with myself. Like I am depressed or upset but my brain has not categorized it so my body is just taking this deflective posture until it figures out what’s up.

Need an example? My husband just came out of his office and struck up a conversation about chocolate. You know the yummy sweet cocoa deliciousness? He found some in our pantry and wanted to let me know in case I was longing for something sweet. Nice guy right? My response was caustic and loud. Not really mean just aggressive. All of a sudden I looked at him and said “I am yelling, why am I yelling?” We both started laughing but my laugh turned into crying because I am so frustrated with myself. I have some ratcheted stress that seems to be getting worse, not better.

My husband’s take on the whole thing is that I am watching way too much news and internalizing it all. Mark feels my best course of action would be to avoid Facebook and the news. Take a break from the daily updates of insanity. He might be right. I actually waste way too much time trolling through the endless ridiculousness on Facebook. I like Facebook. I see things and hear about things from friends that I cannot see all of the time and I like that. Also included in the nice friendly updates is other people’s dirty laundry, personal unsolicited opinions on any given topic and a boat load of crazy. This kind of stuff can turn just about anybody crazy if they spend enough time looking at it.

The news is another ball of wax. I am just not someone that processes the news well. I take it all on. I can’t just “let it go”. Many stories I see and hear stay parked in my brain and become the scroll bar inside my head, like my own personal highlights page. That’s when “the mood” strikes, the loud growling mood that comes out of nowhere and attacks all in its wake. I am going to take my hubby’s advice. He has the most to gain from my attitude change if I pull it together so why not give it a try. 

Besides if I drag myself away from the negatives, maybe I would have time to write more. I’d like that. Who knows, maybe you would too.

I am going to pack up my loud voice and trot out a good attitude today, but first I have to post my blog and load it on Facebook…AGH, I know…I promise I won’t look at anything!

Let's NOT Talk About Politics

We have finally made it, it is 2016, a Presidential election year. I know it is hard to tell where the hard line is for campaigning anymore since practically everyone jumped into the presidential race a year and a half ago, but none the less here we are. I have bobbed and weaved my way around the topic of candidates as best I can with a slight slip of the tongue here and there for so long now, I’m not sure I can make it another 10 months without saying something that will end a friendship or if nothing else totally tick someone off.

You see, I am opinionated and I have strong feelings about many things (which you probably already know if you have read my blog before), but I draw the line at politics. I am passionate about what I am passionate about and I have strong feelings about what I think our country needs and doesn’t need, but I don’t want to argue with a friend over it or even have a passionate discussion over it. I’m just not that girl.

 Someone asked me point blank last week who I was voting for and it startled me. I was not expecting to have to pony up with a decision just yet. Honestly, I am just not ready to decide yet and I really don’t want to talk about why or even who. Can we all just agree to not talk about politics? Please?!

Here is the thing; say what you want about each and every candidate out there, in the end personal preference is the decision maker. What your life has been like for you. What your faith or belief system is and your gut. You’re out there RA RA RAing over somebody that just might be the last person I would find suitable, but I like you and now because of politics I am scratching my head. I thought you were different than that. Who knew you bent in that direction…now not only am I uncomfortable I am having a hard time  finding the words to share my thoughts because…well…I don’t want to!

Look, no matter how passionate we are about any of these people, someone is going to win and if you didn’t vote for them you are going to be upset. That’s a fact. So let’s agree on a few things:

*its politics, people win and people lose.

*You vote for someone they win and sometimes you regret it later.

*Not everyone agrees with you, no matter how loud you talk and no matter how strongly you believe in the person someone is going to have another person in mind.

*The great thing about America is that we can make our own choices about who we trust to lead us.

*Talking about politics is not everyone’s cup of tea, so respect those of us who have strong feelings, but like you enough to NOT want to talk about it with you. You will know us by the slight smirk and distant look in our eye when you bring it up.