A high school teacher once pronounced that "Kelly is the kind of girl that will never get an ulcer". I wondered about that statement at the time...was he insulting me by suggesting that I was an air-head or was he being ironic. Years and a modicum of wisdom suggest to me that it was the first one...and he obviously didn't know the first thing about me.
There is a line in an old movie called "The Boyfriend School" where Shelly Longs character states that she is "just naturally tightly wound" and that pretty much describes me! Unlike her, though, I think I keep it hidden for the most part...most of the time, hence the teachers errant evaluation.
When we go on vacation to the beach, I rarely sleep, at night, by the pool, on the plane, I actually have to be back home for a week before I get any rest. When I go to bed I think for an hour and when I finally get to sleep, I dream and usually remember most of them.
Even when Kent and I are alone at the cabin, where there is nothing but sun and lazy day's, I can't relax because I can "feel" Kent wanting me to pull him skiing or wanting to golf which are both stressful things for me when I just want to try and relax. You're probably thinking, just humor him, do the stressful thing and then relax which would be great advice if he didn't want to do those things everyday, all day, and me "feeling it".
The best vacation I ever had was when I decided to let Kent go to the cabin without me. I spent two day's cleaning and made a big tuna casserole, (Kent hates tuna) enough to last me nearly the entire two weeks worth of dinners. Then I RELAXED! I went to a couple of Shakespeare in the park performances, saw the matinee of 'Lord Of The Rings' SEVEN times, had lunch with friends, went shopping and RELAXED!!! I still had some of my old stressed out habits like getting fully showered, dressed, and makeup straight out of bed, no robe for me...what if somebody came to the door like Publishers Clearing House?! But for the most part I did relax, even skipping church in case someone said something hurtful to ruin my new found state of bliss.
When you are tightly wound, finding compartments is essential. Deadline over in compartment number 4, drama from friends or family number 6 please, diet off-line goes in compartment 3, procrastination guilt over in 10. This enables one to dial up compartments as required instead of a stinky, unhealthy, dumpster dive, free for all of stress.
If I don't respond intelligently to a comment or question, it doesn't mean I don't get it. What it most likely means is that the subject upsets me or, I don't agree and don't want to debate it or, you're wrong and I don't want to embarrass you or, I get the insult and don't want to start a fight about it 'cause that only makes it worse or, I'm playing dumb to get out of an undesirable response, etc, etc, etc!!!
While the teacher was correct in that I've never had an ulcer, I contribute that to the fact that every 'body' handles stress in different ways. People can get TMJ, rashes, migraines, heartburn, back spasms, intestinal maladies, etc. all from stress.
I admit that I have my "air-headed" moments, but I tend to be proud of them for the most part, because they refuse to see insult and malign. They almost always see the good no matter how unintended and have wisdom beyond consciousness.
