Day Twenty-Four: Your top three worst traits

The point of my blog is not to be confessional, or to relate the everyday happenings in my life. It's more of a place for me to get my thoughts out "on paper." Writing helps me to process things.

That's why these "confessional" posts are so annoying to me. Who cares what my worst traits are? But I committed to doing this "blog every day for a month" thing with Randi, so here goes...

1. I'm far too sarcastic. This was hard on the Hubs when we were first dating, because his family is not.sarcastic.at.all. I find sarcasm funny, but it can be biting and mean. Also, sarcasm is LOST on toddlers, which means it's not really an effective communication technique.

2. I laugh at inappropriate times. Notice, I did NOT say inappropriate things. I have developed a not-so-good habit of finding things at which to laugh. Also, sometimes things just strike me as funny at random times. A lot of times this will happen in Sunday School or church, and I'm sitting there, shaking in laughter, while The Hubs shakes his head at me (because the same thing that strikes me as funny isn't funny at all to anyone else on the planet). Often, I try to STOP laughing, and can't. I think this trait has gotten worse with time because of my philosophy on crying... if the choice is to laugh or cry, I'll laugh. This can come in handy, but mostly, it's just annoying to others. Plus, a good cry can be cleansing to the emotions and the soul. I don't get those good cries very often.

Along with laughing when I probably shouldn't, The Hubs says that I don't laugh when I should. A long time ago, I read an article that said that men laugh at each other's jokes even when they aren't funny because they don't want the jokester to feel embarrassed. IT IS TRUE. And The Hubs thinks I'm rude when I don't laugh at jokes that I don't find funny. It's probably true.

3. I'm overdramatic and highly sensitive. These are something that I work VERY HARD to overcome, but I will struggle with this all of my life, I'm sure. If someone makes a comment, I tend to take it far too much to heart, either good or bad. My feelings can be hurt very easily. And on the overdramatic thing... well, I'll tell you another story from my childhood as an example.

One time, we were swimming as a family in our backyard pool. Suddenly, my Dad started violently choking. It was horrible, and his eyes were bulging and his arms were flailing as he tried to get his breath. It scared me terribly, and the thoughts that flashed into my mind were newspaper headlines: MAN DIES IN POOL WHILE FOUR CHILDREN WATCH. After Dad stopped choking, he asked us all if we were okay (I'll bet everyone in my family remembers this), and I told him, voice trembling, that I'd thought he was going to die. He thought that my newspaper headlines were funny. I see all of life that way, though. If I'm imagining something bad, there are always newspaper headlines in my head. See? Overdramatic and highly sensitive.

So, now that I've said what I think I are my worst three traits, I'm wondering if they really are the worst. Maybe The Hubs or my family would say something different!?