The most important advice I’ve ever gotten was “listen, don’t just wait to talk”. Anxiety can drive us to open our mouths before we’ve thought enough about what we’re going to say. Sometimes a pause to gather our thoughts before we respond can seem like an eternity but it’s usually just a few seconds. Practice can go a long way toward helping us manage those few anxious seconds.
Thanks for the insights and this laugh: But then she opened a bag of Pepperoni Combos, and I stopped worrying if she was an angel. I don’t know if angels actually eat, but I guess they don’t eat Pepperoni Combos.
A pineapple, of course; who wants to be around a shark? And I must take exception, as it’s quite clear to me that angels do eat Pepperoni Combos. As far as I can tell, they eat what they please (and yes, you do hear a GD in the middle of that phrase.) Good luck telling Michael, or Gabriel, or kid brother Raphael to put down whatever they happen to be munchin’ on; pull that off and you’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din.
the most important words from your essay is how you "practice talk"....I wish I could do that each time before a tense conversation looms
I really kind of have to. When I’m caught unaware, I am far too blunt.
ditto
The most important advice I’ve ever gotten was “listen, don’t just wait to talk”. Anxiety can drive us to open our mouths before we’ve thought enough about what we’re going to say. Sometimes a pause to gather our thoughts before we respond can seem like an eternity but it’s usually just a few seconds. Practice can go a long way toward helping us manage those few anxious seconds.
Oh, wow! Having read the short version on your Twitter feed I had no expectation of the ending. That was fabulous. Fabulous.
It kind of stunned me, too.
Amen.
Thanks for the insights and this laugh: But then she opened a bag of Pepperoni Combos, and I stopped worrying if she was an angel. I don’t know if angels actually eat, but I guess they don’t eat Pepperoni Combos.
A pineapple, of course; who wants to be around a shark? And I must take exception, as it’s quite clear to me that angels do eat Pepperoni Combos. As far as I can tell, they eat what they please (and yes, you do hear a GD in the middle of that phrase.) Good luck telling Michael, or Gabriel, or kid brother Raphael to put down whatever they happen to be munchin’ on; pull that off and you’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din.
Kind of deflating that she’s speaking to no one, but this is a fitting post script to the initial post.