I have embraced the principle that we give every event in our day whatever meaning we want to – and mostly when something comes along, I can take a moment to think differently about it or take the next right step to turn it around. But lately I’ve been finding that after a series of frustrating events in a day (I own a business in the process of rapid expansion so there is always something to work through), when I next encounter someone close to me (my husband, a close friend, maybe one of my adult children), I will “vent” by telling them one or two of the frustrating things that has happened that day. I don’t do it in a negative, whiny way or go on at length about it as if they should solve it, and my intention always is to just be honest about how my day went and how I am feeling. At the same time, I always ask them how their days were and what’s going on with them. But I’ve noticed that sharing in this way doesn’t make me feel better…I expect that it will, because I know these people love and care about me and want to know when things are hard, but I am beginning to wonder if there is a way to be both open and honest with the inner circle who want to really know how we are doing, while not getting bogged down in a further negative spiral. What starts out as a way to feel better, rarely seems to make me feel better. But never opening up doesn’t seem like a good solution either – then I’d be alone with the challenges I worked through all day.
Thoughts?