Quick Thought #21 – Stark Differences in How I Talk To MyselfPin

Quick Thought #21 – Stark Differences in How I Talk To Myself

I haven’t done one of these quick thought posts in a while, but last night was a great example of how poorly I talk to myself compared to how I talk to others.

Last night, I ordered dinner for my wife and I with an app. It’s an app I’ve used many times, like many others.

I failed to notice that the restaurant only offered pickup until we sat around, wondering why I hadn’t received any notification that our food was on the way. It had been sitting there, getting cold, waiting for us to pick it up for at least 20-25 minutes. We quickly hopped in the car to get it; all the while, I apologized over and over to my wife, berated myself internally for not noticing and screwing up our dinner, etc.

When we got there, I ran inside only to discover that the restaurant had only one meal, not two. Part of the order had gotten cut off, and no one caught it until I got there and asked about the second meal. The manager made things right very quickly, apologizing repeatedly.

My response?

“No worries, it’s all good. We’ve got our food, and that’s all that matters.”

And then I got back in the car, telling myself that this whole mess could have been avoided if I had handled ordering correctly in the first place.

What is wrong with me?

This is life with anxiety. This is what it’s like to struggle with ever feeling like you’re enough. If you’ve done something similar, I see you.

Similar Posts

  • Social Media and Mental Health – Stop Comparing

    So much about social media is fake, yet we all make the mistake of comparing what we do privately to what other people post for public consumption. This book, while dark at times, is reminding me that everyone is fucked up and anxious about something. #mentalhealth #socialmedia #anxiety A post shared by Child Abuse Survivor…

  • It’s Been a Rough Week So I’m Reminding Myself of These Things

    Even when there are things in the world I cannot change, I use my own words to remind myself that there are things I CAN do. I can look after the people around me. I can add my voice to support mental health, survivors, and marginalized groups. I can find small ways to contribute to making the world a better place while also encouraging others to do the same.

  • What We Really Need is Compassion

    I see this a lot in our communities as well. Again, empathy when dealing with an individual child, or supporting a loved one with a mental health struggle is great, but trying to feel the pain of all of the abuse survivors we are likely to come across in the world online, is a sure way to overwhelm yourself and burn out. I’ve seen it over and over again. Much like COVID-19, these issues are global, and huge. Trying to take on that much pain is an impossible task, and isn’t actually going to be helpful. Much better, is to develop compassion. As the guests on the show discuss, compassionate emotions push us to act. That act, helping others, does more good for them, but is also good for us. Instead of feeling overwhelmed, and shutting down, we are taking some small amount of control over the situation, and acting on it in a way to helps. We become the helpers that Mr. Rogers so famously talked about. Being a helper, makes us happier. It sets aside our own anxiety and struggle to do something, which is always a good way to move beyond those things.

    So, the question may be not only what are you doing to take care of yourself during this time of great anxiety, but what are you doing to help others?

  • |

    Let’s Talk About Your Friend with Social Anxiety

    Someone you know is likely struggling with anxiety. Likely, many of you are, too, just like I am. With general anxiety running rampant across society right now, we can also assume that a large portion of social anxiety is going around too. If you have a friend who has struggled to keep plans or stay in touch, be kind. Recognize their anxiety and take a small action that sends the message that you are happy to see them. For me, it’s been a sincere hug or smile upon seeing me. It’s an immediate reminder that this person wants to be with me. There is an undeniable feeling that seeing me makes them happy.

    They probably have no idea how much they have done by expressing that to me, but it makes all the difference in the world. I can immediately go from being all in my insecurities to all in the acceptance and warmth of long-time friends. It might not seem like much, but it is.

  • You Can Still Smile, Even Wearing a Mask

    I’ve seen many people in the Mental Health Advocacy arena talking about this new reality of people wearing masks in public places. The main concern seems to be losing something that is small, but can be invaluable, the connection that comes from smiling at someone in public. Now, I don’t want to dispute the importance…

  • Good News, Bad News Creating an Untenable Situation for Mental Health

    First, the good news. This article is from Australia, but I feel fairly confident that we’d see similar results in other countries. More and more Australians are being diagnosed with depression and anxiety. But this doesn’t mean Australians’ mental health is worsening. What they did was look back at not just rates of diagnosis, but…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

To respond on your own website, enter the URL of your response which should contain a link to this post's permalink URL. Your response will then appear (possibly after moderation) on this page. Want to update or remove your response? Update or delete your post and re-enter your post's URL again. (Find out more about Webmentions.)