Friday, November 16, 2007

Winding up, winding down

When I am feeling energetic and feel like doing something (anything that takes energy: going out, going to a store to buy groceries, working out, washing dishes, complaining to the customer service, whatever) and somebody else (somebody who will not be directly affected) tells me to calm down, not to do it, not to bother, etc., my reaction is extremely hostile. Same if people suggest that I need rest or sleep when I really don't.

I don't normally express this hostility, because people rarely mean anything bad when they do it, but it is there. "Fuck off, shut your fucking trap and don't tell me what to do!" is a very mild version of what I usually leave unsaid.

I never thought much about it, because, hey, nobody likes being told what to do, etc., but thought about it today and realized that first of all, this reaction is quite excessive, and second, it only works for me one way: if I don't feel like doing anything and people are trying to get me to be energetic and do stuff, it does not piss me off in any way whatsoever.

And the question is, as usual, WTF, and have other people noticed anything similar, or maybe the opposite? Is telling people to calm down always counterproductive?

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