A Tiger and Her Stripes

There is a movie on netflix right now called "The November Rule". I love that movie. One of the reasons why is because in retrospect, I have a rule similar to that. I try very hard not to be attached beyond October 31st. It is something that I have done for years now. The season known to many as cuffing season has always been a time when I "uncuff" so to speak. There have been many false reasons as to why I do this. Such as, don't want to spend time with their families, don't want to have to give them gifts for Christmas, and the ultimate one... I hate Valentine's day. I had to step back and try to figure out where in the world this came from. The simple answer is that my past has prevented me from ever really wanting to be with someone during that time. If you are with someone there is always room for disappointment. Not to mention the memories associated with that time frame.  Christmas has been hard for me since 2010. The memories created in my ma

I have begun to read the five love languages again. Kind of a refresher of sorts. One of the things that I have noticed starting at the first love language; Words of Affirmation, it that I don't speak that language very well. Not to others and not to myself. It's really been evident in the last year that I have been lacking in communication skills in this manner. Each and ever single day I am sitting at a computer talking to people about health insurance, a job that I have done for the last three years. However, that is not where my customer service skills started. My journey actually started with technical support with Apple. If anyone is familiar with the ins and outs of call center work you understand that you are generally "coached" on your calls for specific things. In every single call center job that I have had my failing point was and still is empathy. "You gotta work on your empathy." I hear time after time in coaching sessions. My current job was