I Can See It On Your Face

Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Are you good at hiding your feelings or is your face an open book?

I am completely arrogant and will say that  I am very good at hiding my feelings from showing in the expressions on my face.

I'm sure that sounds deceptive.  I guess in a way, it is.

In my role as a foster parent, it is often protective.

Sometimes it's about setting an example for my children.

Keeping my feelings from my face often allows others to trust me more, tell me more.  Sometimes it's simply about manners.

Even when a person annoys the crap out of you, it isn't necessarily the best thing to have so little self control as to let that all hang out.

It's about power and control too.  I can't necessarily control how I instantly feel about something, but I can control how I react and respond to something. If you tick me off and I instantly show you that, you have the power to push further and possibly manipulate my actions.  If you hurt me and I show it, then you have all the power to do it over and over again.

Not always, but often, the power to be victimized is our own.  We don't have to feel like dirt about ourselves over what Susie said or what Dick did.  We can decide to feel however we want to about it.  We can control how we respond to it.  We don't have to live like life is a giant out of control emotional roller coaster of friends and family and people yanking us up and down.  We just don't.

I'm not saying that there aren't situations or moments in life when a person isn't an open book, when I'm not, because there are.  For all of us.

But, I don't have to be ruled and destroyed by feelings.  I don't have to spend my energy that way if I don't want to.