I have always been a powerhouse type of person. In my youth, I never shied away from confrontation or full expression of my thoughts. Many years of misunderstandings, miscommunications and hurt feelings have led me to search for more effective ways to get my point across. I've learned that, for the most part, tempers only serve to make things worse. Anger only distracts from the matter at hand and causes hurt feelings, which are never productive in terms of compromise and cooperation.

Today, I am still driven to express myself, but now my challenge is to express myself calmly, clearly and directly; in a way that may be heard and accepted by my audience, whomever they may be. I am convinced that it is possible to say just about anything without upset, provided one takes the time to choose their words and manner carefully. I choose non-confrontation, not out of an inability to handle it, but for carefully considered moral reasons. From my current vantage point, yelling seems like failure.

But, nobody's perfect. We all yell with varying degrees of frequency. No matter how reasonable we may try to be, there are inevitable breaking points along the way. I suppose, initially, the goal is to space out those breaking points with meditation, exercise and proper diet, but ultimately, the goal is to learn new ways of coping with stressful situations before they become a real problem. Every step along the way is progress and yet, it seems true change takes a very long time indeed.

My friend, if you are reading this, you are probably already on a similar path and, if you are, I salute you. You are swimming against the tide, which means you are strong and getting stronger. Remember all you do to spread peace in your life and give yourself a break when your stress leaks out onto others. Acknowledge your mistake, take heart that those things you said probably needed to be said and, in the future, see if you can find a way to say those hard things more kindly before you get to the point of erupting.

Namaste

[Note: I wasn't actually going to publish this little pep-talk until a friend showed me that I am definitely not the only one who needs it. Thank you, Jennifer. (hugs)]