doldrums

I think my body is fighting another vicious virus. No fair, I was sick for two weeks back in April!!!! So far, I'm not congested and if I have a temperature, it's very slight but my whole body is weak and aches all over. Hopefully, rest, fluids, and vitamins will help stave it off but I'm running low on food and it's been raining hard over here. I hope it stops raining before I have to drag myself out to get more food. During times like this, being single sucks.

giants of faith

During home church meeting last night, I suggested we describe one person we respect or admire as part of our ice-breaker. I thought it would be an easy ice-breaker because I can go on for hours just talking about the different people who have made a difference in my life. To my surprise, almost everyone had to think long and hard before they could come up with one person.

I guess I should be very, very grateful that I've met so many wonderful and amazing people, both in and outside of the faith.

minor epiphany

I just realized that I hate repetitions. I hate doing the same thing or living the same kind of experience more than once. Learning a new skill or sport requires practice and repetition but with some sports, even repeating the same move can contain miniscule differences. It's definitely true with badminton since everyone plays differently and when you put four people on the same court you have an almost limitless number of permutations of shots. It is also true that if you don't vary your sparring partners, the game becomes too predictable and therefore boring.

And I've been fortunate that life hasn't become boring yet! There are days when I long for stability and a routine that will last more than a year or so but I grudgingly admit that I would be bored if and when that happens. Sometimes, I think that certain struggles that I go through over and over again frustrate me precisely because I hate that it is repetitive even though clearly, I haven't learned how to get through whatever it is. And this also why I hate memorizing Bible verses--too much repetition necessary!! Hmmm, what does this all mean??

things to think about

Last week, I officially recognized and celebrated the fact that I've been taking baby steps in my work! This week, I have to gather up my courage and do more of it.....But I know now that I can make some headway in work as long as they are baby steps and as long as I don't let fear shackle me down. I need to keep moving forward after a bit of rest.


Last week also showed how mistaken I was to assume that I've seen--and thus am no longer surprised by or have difficulty with--a lot of different kinds of relational troubles. Since this is a blog that only friends have access to, I feel like I can be a bit more up front about how I feel but sometimes I wonder how much of what I write counts as gossip too, so I'll try to be as general as possible without giving away this person's identity.

I stuff my foot in my mouth on a regular basis and I think I did that again this past weekend. When I asked the person I think I offended if there was anything wrong, he just said "Oh, I'm just tired." (No, this is not a romantic relationship but for reasons that will become clear, gender is important to this story.) To cut a long story short, I took him at his word at that point but as time passed, he was clearly sulking and acting in a passive aggressive manner, i.e. he wouldn't talk as he normally did and if i said anything, he gave monosyllabic answers.  This became especially clear in group conversations when he engaged others in the group but then looked tired or bored when I spoke. After awhile, I just ignored him and refused to speak to him until he spoke to me--and he did when he saw that I engaged others in conversation rather than him.

(Nota bene: I'm now very good at being self-sufficient in social situations. I wouldn't like to live on a desert island by myself but I suspect that I would find a way to live a happy and fulfilled life regardless.)

Hanging out with someone who acts in this way is really not much fun and I am quite convinced now after several observations that he acted that way because I had somehow hurt his fragile, little male ego. If I'm right, and I think I am, then I feel very sorry for my female friends who are married to men who don't know how to deal with conflict because I was around this guy for only a few hours and I was tired, upset, and hurt myself. I can't imagine being married to someone who treated me like this off and on and off and on again.

I know I was wrong to have been careless with my words and honestly, I do my very best to guard my tongue most of the time--which is why I avoid people when I'm tired and can no longer guard my tongue--and yes, I do have wrong ideas in my head still and will invariably act and speak in ways that are a reflection of those wrong ideas. But rather than have someone revert to passive aggressive behavior, I'd much prefer a gentle confrontation if possible, and if not, I'd even prefer a shouting match so that the issues are at least on the table. Right now, I can't even apologize for what I said because I'm not 100% sure that what I said is what's bugging him. (I also suspect that several other things happened that chipped away at his ego that afternoon so I am not wholly to blame, but I very much wish I could be certain.)

Well, when I was younger and wasn't as aware or in control of my emotional responses, I had the great luck of being surrounded by more mature people who loved me and didn't turn away from me even when I hurt them. It's payback time now. I shouldn't turn away from friendship with this guy and I can only hope that over time, things will get better. (No, I'm not interested in a romantic relationship with this guy but I honor and enjoy platonic friendships greatly.) In the meantime, I need to go brush up my skills at smiling vapidly and acting in a deferential manner. And if I can't do those things, I'll just act like the quiet, reserved, serious person that I sometimes am anyway.

I wish I had a better answer to this. And I hope to God that if I do get married, my husband would have learned a lot of conflict resolution skills. (Yes, I need to keep working on my own too!)

limits

Okay, I know now that I can't schedule a windsurfing session the same day I play badminton. My legs and back get so fatigued after windsurfing. Never again! Also, the soreness of my back muscles tells me that windsurfing is pushing me to use back muscles that I don't normally use. This is great as long as I am careful to maintain proper posture because the last thing I want is to injure my lower back.

I actually don't really have much to say at this point, but wanted to talk out loud randomly. I'm a little tired of eating. Can't seem to think of what I'd like to eat and tend to rush through my meals a little too quickly so that I'm done with it. I get hungry, of course, and that's why I eat but I'm not eating for pleasure right now and I don't know why that is. It'd be nice if I could stop feeling hungry so that I don't have to eat at all!!! Isn't that weird? I usually love food.

energy!

YES!!! This post is not about how I'm lethargic, anemic (metaphorically speaking), or depressed (more or less metaphorical as well). I woke up at 7:30am and I've been moving slowly all morning but at least I've been moving! I have been sipping a very strong cup of HK-style milk tea so that might have something to do with it. HK-style milk tea is similar to M'sia's teh tarik; they're both loaded with caffeine. I prefer teh tarik, of course, but this will do every now and then. Caffeine does put me a little on edge so I really should commit to finding a green tea substitute. Green tea is also high in caffeine but the way the tea is processed (or plucked, dried, whatever) makes it a "softer" kind of tea. That is, it gives you the benefits of caffeine without its side effects.

But this new-found energy is not just a result of the tea, I think it's a result of two other things I'm doing as well. The first is, of course, badminton! I played three hours last night with a fairly decent group and was super tired out last night. I was afraid that I would be fatigued this morning but that hasn't happened. In retrospect, I think that I'm someone with a lot of nervous energy and if I don't channel that energy somewhere, my body somehow goes into the opposite direction and shuts down. It's weird but I'm now convinced that if I don't get enough exercise, I just feel sleepy and tired. I think I have a busy weekend ahead: thinking of going windsurfing on Sat morning, badminton on Sat night, then TWO sessions of badminton on Sun evening (trying out one new club and playing at my regular club), plus trying out another new club on Mon night, and then possibly playing for a second time at a different club (the club I played at last night for the first time) on Tues night. That would mean four consecutive days of a lot of exercise. It might be overkill but then again, maybe my body can handle it.

The second more important reason for this new found energy is theological. I've been enjoying the online sermons of a friend's former pastor. His sermons are only 30 mins long but I almost always learn something new. As I said in the post below, I've been listening to his sermon series on time and work and two insights have really made a large impact on my life this week. First, the insight that our life's rhythms are pegged to the seven-day schedule where everything we need to do in life, we have to do within seven days. That is, everything important to us has to take place within the seven day cycle, including work, play, and relationships. This means that we need to find time to rest within the week. And we need to find time to work and be in relationship with others as well.

I've been tired and I tried resting and resting and resting until I felt rested. That didn't work even though it sounds like it should work. This week, I'm trying an experiment. Yes, I still feel tired but I'm going to try to include as much work into my day as possible. Today is only Wednesday but I think there is truth to this seven-day-cycle idea. An old childhood friend made the observation a few weeks ago that I'm a "woman of extremes." It came up when I told her I was telling her that I'm picking up windsurfing. Her immediate reaction was to ask "When are you turning pro?" I laughed because I had thought seriously about it (and came to the conclusion that it would take far too many years to turn pro). But it was helpful for me to think about this. Being someone of "extremes" is useful at times because I push myself. But sometimes, it's more detrimental to life in general because I neglect other areas of my life and burn out on one thing.

The second insight from his sermons is that work is hard. You'll have to listen to his sermon yourself to understand the idea fully because this post is getting too long. But wow, that flummoxed me and it was also liberating. Work is hard. Why should I be surprised to find that it is hard? My mind and spirit have been shut down because I just couldn't face the work I was supposed to be doing. It has been such a struggle to get started on it and it is still such a struggle. But I'm going to keep going for now and see what happens.

This is different from doing a job that is "wrong" for you. I don't know if this job is right or wrong for me because I have never given my all. And right now, I'm excited by the thought of trying things out. I'm scared to death of failing. I'm scared to death of finding out that it is "wrong" for me and that I might not have the skills for it. But I shouldn't let that fear stop me from trying things out. And trying it out will be hard. But that's okay because work is hard.

paying the price

I don't have time to explore fully what I learned from the minor disagreement with my friend last week. I've realized perhaps a little belatedly that the worst decisions I've made in the past were always made when I felt threatened and was therefore either angry or afraid, or both. God has redeemed and will continue to redeem my bad decisions. I might have to live with the consequences of those bad decisions but at the end of the day, I know I will say that God was good, he is good, and that regardless of what happens, there is still much for which I can be thankful.

But at the same time, I'd like to be more careful about how I make my decisions, especially during moments of anger or fear. I hope that in the future, I'll take the time to stand back, breathe deeply, acknowledge the fear or anger, wait for the emotions to subside and only then begin to weigh my options. I'm not saying that everyone shouldn't make decisions out of fear or anger because sometimes we don't have the luxury of time and maybe not everyone has the same struggles as I do. But as for myself, I'd like to make that time whenever possible and it'd be nice if I could be more aware of my emotional states.

Well, last week, I also learned a bit about time and what the Bible has to say about time, thanks to a sermon series I've been listening to online. This summer, I'm struggling to take baby steps re work and so far, it has involved a lot of procrastination and napping to avoid work and the awful feelings it provokes. Opening that word document is the most difficult thing in the world. But this week, I've been doing it for two days now, only after much desperate prayer, "Oh, lord, help me help me help me help me!!!!", still more internet breaks, and still a lot of napping. (It doesn't help that my upstairs neighbor's air-conditioning unit is dripping and the drips are falling on my air-conditioning unit in loud pings that disrupt my sleep.) I'm working on easy editing at the moment and marking sections where I need to put serious thought into the writing. Hopefully I'll be on my way to more serious thinking and writing by the end of the week.

okay, i've got a problem

Do you know what I really really hate?? I really really hate it when people act needy. I called a friend recently, and she goes, "Oh, okay, what's up? Something's up. What's wrong?" As if I only call her when something's wrong.

FIRST off, she's the one who keeps saying: "Oh, call me if you need anything, okay? Just call me!" Okay, well, I'm new to the freaking place and in the past SIX months, sure I've had to call because I need advise or tips or directions. But honestly, I can't remember the last time I called her for help.

AND SECOND, this is the first weekend of July, and I was away for the first TWO WEEKS of June, then SHE was away for the third week of June, so we've been in the same city for one week when we haven't seen each other. Last I recall, we went windsurfing together the weekend before I left for Cyprus!!!! So all of a sudden, I don't call her except to ask for help????

This is so unfair. Okay, I admit it, I do NOT like to talk on the phone, I just don't. But guess what? I don't talk on the phone most of the time, it's not just her. And, I've been busy sleeping, watching TV and trying to get my act together, it's not like I've ditched her, I've ditched everyone else too! (Except for badminton and church, it's true, but I'm allowed to have some obsessions.)

UGH.

I hate it when I have moments like this where I feel like I'm a bad friend. Well, because it's not like she needed me to be there for her, you know?? If she was in trouble I'd be there. But she's not in trouble, and besides, what would we do? Go out to lunch? Watch a movie? So exciting .... 

Okay, fine, in my head I did think, "Well, it's not like we have the most exciting conversations and I can't think of anything to say to her so I'm just going to stay home." But does that make me the bad friend??? I feel like a teenager again.

Something's going on here and I don't know what it is, I just know that this is annoying me to no end, partly because I've had other needy friends in the past who made me feel like there's something wrong with me. Well, if there's something wrong with me because I like to stay home and I don't need to be as social as other people, then FINE, there's something wrong with me and if you can't handle it, just go away and leave me alone. Give me anymore of "oh something's up right, come on, something's got to be up" and you will never hear from me again. And it wasn't like we've been best friends all these years. Come on, I just moved here six months ago!!!!

Rant over. I'm still steaming but I have to stop. Stuff like this makes me want to go into counseling again because this is what we call "crazy-making."

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Update

Now that I've calmed down, I think I've learned a lot from what happened this weekend. More next time because I have to head out to church now but I'll just say for now that this touched a raw nerve and the next time something like this happens, I should probably wait 24hrs before doing or saying anything about it. I am glad that I didn't say anything to this friend though because if I had done it while I was mad, it wouldn't have worked out well.