Kinder and funnier....

A trivial food memory floats up as I look back through the years. Visited a friend in Arizona many eons ago whose morning drink of choice was Pepsi. Early in the morning, I can still see her carrying a 2L bottle and recall my sheer disdain for the act of DRINKING sugary soda first thing in the A.M. Yuck! In my value system, soda was a drink only consumed later in the day, for heaven sake’s. (Not sure who to thank for this judgmental component in my then-value system…)

(For those of you who’ve been reading my stories, you’re probably well-aware of my current predilection for Diet Dr. Pepper, a late-in-life addiction, from which I’ve been known to take a nip early in the morning😉)

Moving to present-day food judgments, we have the chocolate-covered almonds drama. They’re purchased at my food coop, which in my mind, greatly 🤥 differentiates them from chocolate-covered almonds purchased at a regular grocery store like Kroger‘s. At the coop, a bit less sugar and some fancy orchard name on the container. Uh-huh… Oh, god, my inner food snob still thrives after all these years…

My point about the chocolate-covered almonds? Um, well, I have been known to sneak a handful for breakfast! Sneak? Sneak! I live alone! (I guess the word “sneak“ gives this away as self-judgment.)

Where do I even start with these internal contradictions?

Um, well, how ‘bout with: HUMAN, HERE! I guess that would be me, human, that is. Wait, you are, too? Oh gosh, knowing that makes me feel SO much better. I’m not alone in my human-ness.

As a human, I’m just a veritable bundle of contradictions. And I bet you are, too. How could we not be in this patchwork culture? The problem I face is that I’m not very nice to myself when I notice these human imperfections/contradictions. Nope, not at all.

And, of course, in the self-compassion literature (be nice to yourself!!), we are reminded to talk to ourselves in a kinder voice. While I continue to work on developing a kinder voice, I’m also going to hang onto my sense of humor. Do you know what happens when you laugh (kindly) at yourself? Do you? OK, here’s the big reveal…

“When you start to laugh, it doesn't just lighten your load mentally, it actually induces physical changes in your body, including stress relief.” (Take it from the Mayo Clinic!)

Yep, this human bundle of contradictions (moi) will remind herself to giggle when consuming my next tasty handful of chocolate covered-almonds early in the morning. And while noticing my next behavioral contradiction, my lips will curl in a smile and I’ll shake my head with a small guffaw, feeling the stress drain right out of me. Kinder and funnier…not bad, not bad at all.

❤️ If you’re enjoying “This Being Human Thing,” I’d be grateful if you’d share with others (including, perhaps, the reason you appreciate reading these stories.) 🙏🏽🙏🏾🙏🏻