Monday, June 13, 2011

I had an epiphany this week.

I am addicted to wanting people to like me or approve of what I'm doing. It explains so much about why I have a harder time than most of getting over an argument, tiff or squabble. These things bother me. Deeply. Even if it is someone I don't know. For instance, in our car at a stop sign we were able to pull partway out into the street (as we were there first and there was no one in line behind the car we pulled out to wait behind) to wait in line for the light to turn and us to go. Well, this lady in her big SUV tries to pull past us like we're not there. My dh was not going to let that happen so he made her stop so we could continue. I mean, really, we were there first but she apparently in her infinite wisdom had somewhere much more important to be. As we pulled up to the light I rolled my window down to just get a look at this crazy person. She starts yelling at us that she should have ran over our little car. She didn't quite say it so nicely. Insert lots of curse words. Anyway, I have no idea who she is and will never see her again. But it bothered me so much more than it did my dh. I dwell/worry on things way too much. I should not care what she thought. She was the one in the wrong. I never spoke to her and kept my cool just giving her the whatever dear look. Who would have thought one could be addicted to approval? It explains me to myself so much better! lol Are you addicted to approval or something else?


5 comments:

  1. Hello! I think we all like approval. However, it's where the approval comes from that I find to be a significant factor. I have a certain knack for brushing things off fairly quickly when they don't matter in the grand scheme of things, which I am thankful for. Think of it this way...if you had one week to live, would you really dwell on it? If not, then it's probably worth letting go of.

    Anyhoo...that's a thinker post. I like it! You have a lovely blog! I know you said something about an award, but I'm not sure how that works. You can e-mail me at KatefromScratch@gmail.com

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  2. It's like I'm reading my words right back at me! I'm an approval-seeker, too.

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  3. I think now that I've finally figured this out about myself it should be easier to let things go. Does that make sense? I can't believe it took me 40 years to figure this out!! :P

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  4. I think my last comment went 'poof' into the interweb ether! Dina, I take things personally too, but am getting better. It's a reflex, so it takes work and practice to react in a different way. Sorry you had to deal with such a negative person today. That sort of thing is really not worth spending your energy on. You need your energy for yourself!

    I'm a new follower!

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  5. If it helps any, I would have been upset by that confrontation, too. I'm not addicted to approval,though. I am more addicted to JUSTICE. I want life to be fair. I want the other person to make things right. The SUV lady would have frustrated me because it was OUR turn to go, not hers. It's funny how we all see life from a different perspective, even if we've lived the same experience. I wonder what she was thinking that gave her the right to act like such a jerk.

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