Tag Archive | communication

A work in progress!

Sep16

“You’ve got to let people know if their words hurt you
Staying silent at such times
When emotions churn like torrents in your heart
Is not a good thing!”

Apparently this is called being passive
And I know that it’s not a good thing
In fact, it’s a problematic thing!

The problem with being passive
Is that I pretend to be fine
But I’m anything but fine!

The problem with being passive
Is that I smile
But in reality, I’m ready to cry!

The problem with being passive
Is that I feel powerless
Attacked, yet unable to respond
I don’t want to attack back, just respond
I wear the mask of indifference or being content
But under the mask, I’m boiling mad!

The problem is that this takes me back to when I was a child
And I could not communicate my needs and wants
I sometimes felt powerless back then too, but didn’t even know what was wrong

So, what am I to do now
When I know more than I did before
I just need to feel strong enough
To speak up!
To let someone know I’m not feeling fine
That I feel angry and hurt
That I’m a sensitive soul
And sometimes feel too much!

This is a work in progress for me
I’m much better than I used to be
Most times, I can speak up and speak my mind
I can respond if I feel criticised and feel that
There is more to the story, and we need to talk

But sometimes still
When something comes out of the left field
When I don’t expect it
I can still be taken aback
Be silenced into submission
Feel powerless
Feel wronged!

And that’s OK too
Because life is a school of sorts
Learning never really ends
One does not attain perfection!
One is always a work in progress!

So, I try to learn from my experience and move on
I’m sure I’ll be tested one more time
And then I can show what I’ve learned
And what I still need to work on!

Lida Berghuis
September 16th, 2014

The IV drip of e-mail and text!

Jun20

Cut off from the IV drip of e-mail and Facebook updates
It’s a throw back to the good old times
When we didn’t have instant communication at our finger tips

Do we have too much information now?
Isn’t it all too much to keep up with?
Do we need to know what someone else is doing every day?
Or perhaps hourly, as on Twitter?

Everything in moderation they say
But it’s not that simple of course
Is it something we can get addicted to?
Do we talk too much?
Have we gone off course?

Receiving texts means your phone can’t leave your side
When someone sends a text they want a response
But what if you don’t hear the ping of the text?
What if your phone is on silent by accident?

Many things can wait of course
But we’ve got used to instant communication
And can’t wait for the next piece of news

This is where discipline comes in
Where instant gratification can take a back seat
But that’s easier said than done
One can make many starts and stops

The lure of the text and the internet is always there
It’s so easy to fall back in its trap
But hopefully we can all find a happy medium
Make good use of social media and the net
But don’t get caught in their quick sand!

Lida Berghuis
June 21st, 2014