Getting To The Know

Knowing Yourself is The Beginning of All Wisdom – Lewis Carrol

So often you keep things inside. You build up resentments and tell yourself ‘its just not worth it’ to say something. You keep those emotions bottled up until they explode in the heat of an argument. A loud discussion about an oil change forgotten suddenly becomes about that time 10 years ago he forgot your birthday gift and that other time he didn’t remember to water the plants.

You say yes, when you really mean no. You become a version of yourself filled with regret and resentment, instead of peacefulness.

Today I am grateful for my ability to express myself.

I am not talking about a big mouth. Although I may get a little bout of verbal diarrhea now and again, I like to think I have a filter. When someone pisses me off, I say so. When I’m paying for service and not getting it, I express it.

Although I didn’t always, I have learned to say no gently, when I really don’t want to volunteer for something, help out with that activity at the school or watch your kids on a day that isn’t working for me. I have also bumped up my acceptance. I can now say yes when I really do want pie or another piece of pizza, instead of worrying how many people are watching me pig out.

Most importantly, I have learned to say how I feel. Share how I feel and listen to how others feel.

It’s not easy and I’ve not yet perfected these automated responses from my gut. But, I am much better at this than I used to be.

Recently, for fun, I took an online test my husband sent me from the New York Times. This emotion-reading quiz offers photos with just a pair of eyes. You have to examine those eyes closely to figure out what they are ‘saying’ with no other information.  Once I realized I got all of them right but one, I realized I have a gift for emotion reading (oh, and I beat out my husband!).

The ability to emote can be learned if its not innate to you. Teaching your children to express their feelings are some of the best ingredients for learning to trust, love and acceptance. Even when those feelings that are angry, disappointment or frustration they are all feelings that when brought out loud can allow you to feel and change the dynamic of an unhealthy relationship into a good one.

Being grateful for knowing yourself, strengths and weaknesses, allows us to hold up that mirror and like what you see.

  How are you grateful today?