Blog #762: I Got Mosquitoed
“I’m not impressed.”
That’s all the email read.
Three.
Irritating.
Words.
And they froze me.
______
After ten seconds…
My own three words crashed into my brain.
“WTF!”
And here’s where I get blog naked.
I cared.
I let it get to me.
I let three words loom bigger than 63 years of growing into who I AM.
______
I didn’t recognize the sender.
“Who is this person?”
“Do they know me?”
“Are they screwing with me?”
“What don’t they like?”
I whispered a response I’d never send.
BUT…
For 20 seconds, I really, really wanted to.
I didn’t.
The 100% hazmat-sanitized version of what I was thinking?
“I’m not impressed with you, either.”
______
Made me think…though.
“Did sending this make the sender feel good?”
Because it sure didn’t make me feel good.
It’s not the first time I’ve received comments like this.
I’ve received dozens by email. And that’s not counting the 1,000 arrows fired at me on social media.
You’d think I’d be used to being stung by now.
I’m not.
Each one still feels like an irritating new mosquito bite.
Again.
Do we ever get used to mosquitoes?
Those three words infected my mood.
______
The world has millions of human mosquitoes.
The boss who is never happy with us.
The family member who has mastered the stab.
The nasty customer who knows no other way.
The coworker who smiles at us while their gossip cuts us.
The driver in the car behind who leans on his horn five seconds too long.
The service rep who is definitely part rattlesnake.
The online troll who ruthlessly scrolls looking for someone to bite.
They don’t just piss us off.
Sometimes…
They sleep in our heads.
______
With disregard…
They hurt us.
Mock us.
Anger us.
Minimize us.
Frustrate us.
They make us doubt ourselves.
But for how long will we let them?
I don’t have to keep scratching their mosquito bite.
None of their venom gets to own my next hour.
Day.
Week.
Month.
Or life.
______
Run into a sneaky mosquito lately?
Give the lousy feeling five minutes.
THEN…
Take a breath.
Regain your confidence.
Brush away the sting.
AND…
Get back to being you.
Let’s let them be…
THEM.
S.
EXTRA Thoughts…
Note to Self #1:
Some mosquitoes have two legs.
That version bites hard under our skin.
Note to Self #2:
Wear long sleeves for the 6-leg biters.
And don’t give the human ones your blood.
✨
Last week…
I introduced you to the “hims.”
Meet them.
One might be YOU.
Curious?
Here’s the blog:
✨
This week…
Be on the lookout for mosquitoes.
And watch what comes through your screen.
Thank you for being here this week.
YOU are appreciated.
With humble gratitude…
Share with friends, co-workers and everybody else in the world:
