Ever lay down at night and think to yourself, ‘I am setting my alarm for a certain time in the morning, exercising, getting gobs of work accomplished, showing up to all my appointments early and if I follow this schedule I will even have some extra time before dinner for myself?’
If you haven’t planned out your entire day before you close your eyes, you may not be obsessive-compulsive or anal-retentive. While I have never been clinically diagnosed with either of these unique personality traits, I think my spouse can attest to the fact that they are both very real.
My day started out like any other day, except that I was more exhausted than normal. I peacefully rolled over to turn off my first and my second alarm. Luckily I am a planner which means I had only slept through my workout and nothing worse. Anxiety now joined my other two special personality characteristics all before I had even made coffee. I go into the kitchen to get started and there are NO coffee beans! I repeat there are NO COFFEE BEANS! A little miscommunication between the Brasfield Family and now I have gone into a mental spiral.
So what does a slightly OCD, anal-retentive, non-caffeinated person do in this situation….. that’s right, I sat down to make a list of everything I needed to do today. Was it the soothing experience I had hoped for? Of course not, because I added ridiculous stuff to the list that I would never be able to accomplish. Nevertheless, I pressed through with positivity, and a cup of berry tea. Just so we are all clear if you are craving a cup of coffee a cup of tea is not the same. I did a little closet organization to sooth my neurotic tendencies then headed out to a dental appointment with my new dentist.
The appointment was going great despite my lack of make-up and appropriate attire until I heard the words “you need a filing”. Glad I already fired my previous dentist, because this little situation clearly slipped through the cracks. Anxiety now begins to resurface and my brain is already frantically going through my calendar trying to find the best time to go when I have no nothing else scheduled. My ADD was so busy planning out all the other stuff I had to do that I almost missed the doctor saying, “It’s not absolutely necessary, but your wisdom teeth are starting to become a problem and you should really consider having them removed.” I almost said, excuse me, do you have any fresh coffee around here? If it’s not too much trouble throw in a few pieces of chocolate? I mean why would a dentist not have coffee to stain your teeth readily available and delicious sugar ridden chocolate candy? At checkout, I was provided the name of an oral surgeon and then given the option of coming back a few hours later for my filing. Today, are they kidding me? Surely coming twice in one day is completely impractical. If I come back how would I get everything else done for work and life? My ADD envelopes my entire body and mind calculating how to pick up something for work, go to the store, eat lunch, catch up on emails, and be back within a few hours.
Anxiety now joined my other two special personality characteristics all before I had even made coffee. I go into the kitchen to get started and there are NO coffee beans! I repeat there are NO COFFEE BEANS!
Luckily I got a few items checked off my list and an interesting line of questioning happened in the Publix checkout line. The gentleman helping bag my groceries asks, “have you been playing tennis?” What an odd question to ask. He continues to proceed with these types of inquiries; “Did you go for a run earlier? Are you having a good day?” My head shook no, but my brain was wondering where all this was coming from when the realization hit. I am in my running skirt and have absolutely no make-up. Geeze, I must look pretty rough. How scary could I possibly be? My brain is now beginning to take an inventory of my entire wardrobe. OCD you’re up. I silently make a list of appropriate clothes to throw on when I am short on time that do not make me look like I have been backed over with a car.
Now I sit here with my face half numb trying to ingest the 5 ounces of Coke Zero I have agreed I deserve given the events of today wondering is there anyone else like me. The answer to that is ‘yes.’ I am sure we all know someone who is a little obsessive-compulsive, anal-retentive, unable to focus, or anxious. For those of you who have no clue what I have been rambling on about for the last four or five paragraphs, consider yourself lucky. I am pretty sure the nuisances of these personality traits can make me difficult to deal with sometimes. So I am asking that when you take a look around and see someone who seems high strung or severely stressed, please be kind. I would suggest hugging them, however, that could result in sexual harassment complaints. Can’t be too careful these days. On second thought, maybe just talk slow, smile a lot and be positive. Helping people who may not even say they need help is a blessing in disguise. I can say one thing for certain though, I will be having a huge cup of coffee tomorrow morning come hell or high water.
Sincerely,
Caffeine deficient Mrs. B
