Am I THAT obvious?
I hate that I wear my heart on my sleeve, therefore making every emotion I am feeling obvious.
Last week, a coworker said, “Hey! You seem happy today.” I was happy that day. The last few times she’d seen me, I’d been very stressed or sad.
Yesterday, I ran into my mentor in the hallway of my building. I just said hello, and from that, he asked “what’s wrong?” He could hear the stress and panic in my voice.
And the worst example – a few of my college friends are visiting this weekend, and one just called me and said, “It seemed like you are kind of stressed out in the last few emails you sent. You seem worried about what we will do while we are there and what we will eat. We just want to see you and relax! We can just sit on the couch all weekend and eat whatever, it doesn’t matter!”
I wanted to cry when she called. She was trying to reassure me, but knowing that my stress was so obvious just made me feel worse.
Themocracy
Maybe it would make you feel better just to say, “I am stressed and upset because of this, this and this but you are my friend and I am excited to see you”? To just be honest about being stressed and sad instead of trying to hide it? I’m sure people who care about you will understand! 🙂
Um…don’t take this the wrong way, but I think a lot of people in the blogosphere are worried about you…only because we care and want to see you happy again! Have you been talking to your therapist about the sad and the panic?
I wouldn’t worry about being obvious. I know you do and I know me saying it isn’t going to change anything. But the good thing is your friend cared enough to call and try to reassure you. That’s the mark of a good friend.
Friend, it’s okay to feel stressed. It sucks but it’s okay because that’s part of life and usually it blows over eventually. It’s when you are in a constant state of panic and stress that you should pay close attention. I have definitely been there. Trying to please everyone but never feeling satisfied, feeling resentful, feeling upset that people can tell I am upset. It’s a vicious cycle!
I am the type that can’t hide how I am feeling and while some days I wish I was not as transparent, I think I’d rather wear my heart on my sleeve then tuck it away. You’re a feeling person and that’s okay!
I’m sorry you’re feeling so stressed lately! I get stressed too when friends come for a night or a weekend, usually about what we will eat, because it throws me for a loop when I have to account for what anyone other than my fiance and I will eat.
Tomorrow’s Friday thank goodness, and I hope that knowing that and the weekend will bring you a little peace. Maybe some gentle yoga might help take your mind off things.
I’m sorry you are stressed out! Good thing is, we all get this way at times so don’t beat yourself up about it. Sometimes, things feel like they’re in fast forward! Sounds like you have super cool friends and co-workers though!
But, what’s worse is when you are in a perfectly FINE mood and you walk into work and someone (in particular) says, “Are you in a bad mood?” I’m like, WTH? I AM NOW!! LOL! My supervisor did this to me for weeks and I finally said, “What, are you the mood-ometer? The mood police?” I don’t like it when you question me every night” and she said she was sorry- she said she didn’t even know she was doing it? I told her how utterly annoying it was to have someone do that to me as I walked in the door ESPECIALLY when I was fine. How am I suppose to look at 10:45pm when I first get to work? Am I suppose to be her personal clown? Sorry, it felt good to get that out- guess I am still annoyed 😉
TGIF- Yay! I hope You and Steven have an wonderful weekend with your friends! Just try to remember, they are there to see you. Not your perfectly cleaned house, your fancy drinking glasses, or whatever… they are simply there because they love you and want to be near ya!
You say OBVIOUS and I say GENUINE. Seriously, there’s nothing wrong with being honest about who you are. I’d much rather a friend/co-worker/mentee like you than someone who always wears the rose-colored glasses and acts as if the world is perfect. PUKE.
Don’t try to hide your emotions, it is harder to hid them then for it to be more open and out. I hope that with your friends in town you have a good sress free weekend.
sometimes i think you must be my long lost twin!!! it is very obvious (or genuine as SoMi said) what kind of mood i am in as well!!! i have found that for me anyways, trying to act like my life and world is perfect is too time and energy consuming. i agree with the comments that you have a wonderful friend there, they took the time to call and try to ease your stress!!! don’t stress about showing your emotions or that right now is a more difficult time than others!! as hard as it can be to reach out sometimes, just now that we are all here for you if we can do anything!!!!
=^..^=
p.s…. i do hope you enjoy your weekend with your friends!!!
My first week at my new job, EVERYONE told me that I looked nervous and deer-in-the-headlights. I hated that everyone knew how scared I was. But it got better, and it’s nice when people can say things like “you look much more relaxed now.”
And I know this is from a long time ago, but I lived in Rome late May-early July 2005. I did a summer study abroad program, and it was the BEST summer of my life. I lived two blocks from Piazza Navona, walked past the Pantheon on the way to class, and walked to the Vatican to send my mail. It was AMAZING. I could totally be Roman, if only I learned to speak Italian. 🙂 Did you travel around Italy a lot? Where’d you live? I love talking about Italy. We should plan to do the Rome Marathon together!!
Okay, now I’m just talking crazy. I hope you have an awesome, relaxing weekend with your friends!
I’m pretty much an open book, myself. I think people can tell if I am stressed; happy; or whatever from just looking at my eyes. It’s probably a good thing that we show our emotions…we would be rocks if we didn’t, hehe.
Hope your weekend is great!
for me, i’m almost always super-cheerful, so even if i’m just tired / pensive / ANYTHING people get all concerned and “what’s wrong???”-ish around me. it’s impossible to convince someone there’s nothing wrong with you once they’ve asked, by the way! it’s a “i think she doth protest too much” situation. le sigh.
diane – I just feel guilty revealing it stresses me out to have guests come. The therapist has been helping, but this got to the point where it was something I didn’t even want to talk about. I feel better now that I have some free time 🙂
kapgar – She IS such a great friend. 🙂
sizzle – Your comment made me feel so much better. I need to recognize that I DON’T feel like that all the time, and it IS part of life. AND… I like being emotional and free 🙂
Julia – Yeah, the eating thing is an issue. And you know what? I hate that people feel stressed about what I am going to eat, so why do I feel the same stress? I guess it is a sign of caring 🙂
JavaQueen – Ugh. I would HATE that! I hate getting jumped when I walk in the door at work, period. And you’re right – they don’t care about those things, only I do. I hope your supervisor cut it out. It was good that you called out that it annoys you.
SoMi’s Nilsa – Thanks 🙂
Christina – It turned out to be a busy crazy weekend, but A LOT of fun.
CourtneyInControl – Thanks 😀
Susan – I hate it when people point out stuff like that. “You look tired.” Well DUH. I AM!!! I LOVE Italy! I did travel around Italy a lot, by myself, with friends, and with family! I lived right by the Pantheon during the semester, and just outside of the city during the summer. We should talk Rome. What year should we aim for the marathon? It will take me a bit of time to save the money but I am IN!!!
Gina (Mannyed) – You’re so right. Those people who don’t show emotion at all are LAME!!!
Alice – Oh yeah. When you just want to be quiet and they are all up in your business. Not cool.