Skip to main content

Fighting like moms and dads

       It is always hard when you meet someone new and you are trying to explain to them the good things about yourself, but you know eventually the bad will follow. My hardest thing to explain is the way I get when I am upset. I always thought I had it all figured out. I always thought I was a pretty level headed person, until it came time to get into an argument.
       For years, I watched my parents fight and have arguments. My father is the "leave me alone until I am ready to talk about it" type, and my mother is the "let's talk about it now and resolve it" type. I would like to think I am somewhere in the middle, but at the end of the day, I am more like my father. And I always wondered which one was better...well, neither really. Fighting isn't a great thing to do, but it inevitably happens. 
       I was having a conversation with someone this evening, and as the topic of arguing and fighting came up, I realized that I was trying my hardest to come across as someone who doesn't fight or argue, and if and when I do I am pretty chill about it. Well, this isn't exactly the truth. I will admit (in all honesty) that I don't fight or argue about much. I don't find many things to get upset about, but when I do, I tend to need some space and think things over before I can talk them out.
       And as I listened to this person tell me that they are the kind of person that doesn't like to leave an argument upset or in silence with out resolving the issue, I thought to myself, "Damn, Alysse, you are just mean." Not really. I don't think so, but I do see that I have this innate desire to want to figure out why I am upset before I can come to the place where I can talk it out with the other person. The bad part about this kind of reaction is that now when I walk away to calm down or figure things out in my head, I am at the grace of the other person. 
       And that sucks! In one moment, I realized that it isn't that my fighting technique is better or worse, it just comes across as worse. I am making or asking or begging, even silently, for the other person to wait for me. I think in the end it is all about compromise. I am still figuring out how I fight and argue. It is sometimes situational. It can and does depend on the two people in the argument. Perhaps this is a cop out answer so that I don't feel so bad when I am the one that walks away, but it is what it is...
        I just hope that the person that ends up with me, will allow me this "regroup" time when we argue, because inevitably we will.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Beneath the Weeping Willow

  "The willow submits to the wind and prospers until one day it is many willows—a wall against the wind. This is the willow's purpose." —  Frank Herbert, Dune   Time, although a very evasive concept, is in each moment a gift. And most often, I don't stop to look back at the road I have traveled on. Even more so, the road Justin and I have travelled together. But today it is warranted. Today marks 9 years as husband and wife, and 9 years of truly some amazing and adverse moments. We have lost the most cherished and birthed the most loved all the while interwoven with each other.    I will be the first to admit that our day to day appears to some: mundane. However, inside the ordinary he and I together have understood the profundity of love. It is brash and loud, but it is also cautious and quiet.  "Love is a many splendored thing."  It is the true basis of community, and I am proud of the community we have built.   The  willow  is the t...

Being his girlfriend

"Are you happy being my girlfriend?" He asks. In all seriousness. In all honesty. He asks. Never once have I been asked such a damned difficult question. Never once have I been asked that slight simple question. Never once have I been asked THAT question.   Immediately, my head goes a thousand different directions. I want to give him the most honest answer. But lately I feel as though I am trying to quantity my happiness. Yes. I. Am. Happy. But what is happiness? Am I? Can I honestly say that I am happy? I don't know.   Before I make an ass out of myself, I must say this: not one time in the history of Aly and men has she ever felt like her significant other was shelter. You know that line from Finding Nemo where Dory says to Marlin, "When I look at you, I remember. When I look at you, I am home." That's the way I feel when I am in his arms. Home. Perhaps it best not to tell him such a bold thought, but it's true.   Back to this question. Am I happy b...

The Breath of Life

   "I c-c-c-can't stop shaking." "Oh, that is normal," he said as he looked down at me before he peered back over the blue medical sheet in front of my face. I couldn't. I just couldn't stop the incessant shaking. The moment of welcoming my son had played out in my head everyday for the last 10 months, and I promise, this was NOT it.   We arrived 30 hours prior, and my utopistic idea of induction had not come true.    "There are only a few reasons we would revert to a cesarean section... 1. He is under stress. 2. I am under stress. 3. He isn't progressing after some time, but chances are we won't get there."    So, after 22 hours of quite intense labor, I found myself being prepped for a c-section. I'll be the first to admit, my words of, "We will do what we have to do to have a healthy baby," seemed so far gone now. I wasn't sure emotionally how I had gotten this far, or even how I would get further.   "We are go...