Do you ever feel misunderstood? If you do, you’ll know that it’s a lonely feeling.

It often happens to me. On a good day it makes me realise that I must make myself clearer. And its surprising, once I get past my sense of indignation at being misunderstood (and frustration with those who misunderstand me), how often I learn something about myself (like, even though I thought I was being clear, I wasn’t). This generally leads to an improvement.

On a bad day I get stuck in righteous indignation, I court self-pity, and make up speeches that I’ll deliver on the day of judgement when I’ll be gloriously vindicated. Needless to say, this doesn’t improve anything, not understanding, and certainly not my sense of inclusion or my self-esteem.

I’ve noticed how that bad days seem to stick together in groups. They want me in there with them, so they can hang about a bit longer. It feels good to be included, but I know it’s not really where I want to be.

It’s easy to say “Have a good day”, but sometimes it takes commitment to make it happen.