I can’t have anything!
Why can’t I have anything?!?!? Oh goodness, I sound like my mom!
I am a middle child. I have a sister 5 years older and one 5 years younger. Growing up we learned if we wanted something for ourselves to either claim it or hide it. Of course, hiding it was the best option. Even my mom would hide food from us. And if we ever found it and ate it, she would complain “I can’t have anything!”. She always had a stash of the Little Debbie Nutty Bars. I never really knew why she hid those from us. We didn’t really like them anyway.
It was never an issue before!
Being on my own, I never had issues with things not being there when I wanted or needed them. Even when I had roommates. So, of course, I expected the same when David and I got married and moved in together. If I bought something from the grocery store, I expected it to be there when I went to use it. Makes sense, right?
Disappointment
Wrong!! Big wrong! You go to the pantry looking for that one special item that will satisfy your craving and you see it. There it is… your mouth is starting to salivate as you can just taste it… like a Snickers bar on your “skip” day during your diet… You reach for the box and … Wait, that feels a little light… WHAT?!?!?! It’s empty!!! At this point the salivating over the food I was about to indulge in, it turns into foam… Yep, I am foaming at the mouth and irate!!! Who had their grubby paws on my Peanut Butter Captain Crunch?? They know better! Those stepkids are always getting into stuff they know is not for them. Like stuff for school lunch/snack… Stuff like my cereal!!!!!
I am fuming!!!! My pet peeve, one that really sends me into a tailspin, is empty food boxes in the pantry. If you use the last of something, throw the box away or put the plastic cereal container in the sink and write on the grocery board list what we ran out of. That way we can replace it. Simple, right. Oh heck no! How am I supposed to know we are out of something if the pantry is full… full of empty boxes!!! Apparently, my crystal ball is supposed to inform me… the same crystal ball that was supposed to inform me of what I was getting into. That’s definitely another blog in itself!
What does it mean?
The thing about it is, it’s not the empty cereal box that sends me into a downward spiral. It is what the empty cereal box represents to me. When I see that empty cereal box, it is saying to me “The stepkids are lazy. They are irresponsible and unappreciative. They are going to grow up and be unproductive in life.” Yep, that empty cereal box says a lot to me!
What can I do?
So, what do I do to overcome this? If I find an empty cereal box, I calmly throw it in the trash. I don’t put it on the grocery list to order more. I let the empty box go, and I also let go of the power that the empty box used to have on me.
Is being mad about an empty cereal box for 5 minutes, 5 hours, 5 days, etc., really worth my emotional energy? NO! If I need to be mad about it, I give myself 30 seconds max! Thirty seconds is a long time when you realize that you are using that time of your life to be mad about an empty box. It’s all about changing your perspective, giving things the proper emotional weight, and learning to control your reaction to situations that are triggers for you.