Who Irritates You?

I recently spent time with someone I'm tempted to say irritates the hell out of me, like chalk on a blackboard. Only I know I'm the one doing the irritating; he's just being him. It's my chalk and my blackboard -- all screeching and scritching up to me.

I decided to make the leap from knowing to acting as if how I react really is up to me. I kept the chalk in my pocket and simply remained present. I had to remind myself to breathe and keep-chalk-in-pocket a couple of times. And guess what? I had a good time.

Note to self and you: good times may await just beyond your memories of hard times and views of present injustice. The other thing I noticed was that without rancor, instead of stifling my irritated comments, I was able to speak much more directly and freely.

I'm going to use this chalk-in-the pocket technique all the way through the election!

Cheering you on to chalk-on-blackboard free times.

With love,
Mandy