One Hour Twenty-Three Minutes

I have not been feeling my best the past few days, and today I finally figured out the reason. I am just having a bad week! Plain and simple, it just happens that this was my turn to have a series of annoying things take place within a short period of time.

Turns out, my good friend Lisa is also having a bad week. She called tonight to talk. We started the conversation in the dull monotones of people who have been beaten down by relatively small things that pile up on your shoulders until you feel like you're about two feet tall. We shared our stories (hers mostly related to her AP U.S. History students who were complaining about her high expectations and mine mostly related to the fact that I haven't had my car in four days now because of one person's incompetence.)

During the course of the conversation, we decided we should write down three important things for each of us to remember, affirmations of a sort. (This is a perfect example of the semi-cheesy things that our friendship thrives on.) My affirmations were:

• It's okay to be honest at the expense of being polite (especially in regard to the aforementioned incompetent person.)
• You should recognize at least one success from your day.
• You have to take care of yourself before you can take care of others.

Lisa's were:

• It's okay to be honest at the expense of being liked.
• Know you've chosen the right path.
• Know you are smarter than a 16 year old. (Our favorite.)

One of my favorite features on my cell phone is that it tells me exactly how long my phone conversations are. Lisa and I talked for one hour and twenty-three minutes. By the end of that relatively short time (considering that it was improving upon four very bad days) the monotones were gone, we were laughing and energized. We both feel like we can start tomorrow with a fresh take on the week. And if it continues to be bad, well, we'll just have to have another long talk.