The other week I made the comment to my therapist in response to her usual “how was your week?” question and I told her, “it was like death by 1000 chicken pecks”. We both shared a chuckle, and then she asked me to elaborate. I let her know that I’ve been pecked by chickens many times gathering eggs. Quite often they’ll leave a red mark or some of the more vicious ones will leave a bruise or bleed a little. But usually it’s a minor annoyance that goes away quickly, but still kind of ruffles your feathers. I’d been experiencing a bunch of hiccups during the week. You know the type: strange technical issues, the store being out of things randomly. You know, those things that seem to be happening more and more frequently because *waves hands around* and probably aren’t getting better anytime soon.
In fact, during the week, I was like “Wait a minute? Is this the type of weeks that everyone else had?” And I know that sounds odd because we all have little frustrations happen, sometimes more or less frequently. They are a part of life. But as someone with cPTSD and trauma who had been pretty much living in reactive mode for the last I don’t know how many years, getting to a point where I was like “everything is okay except these hiccups” was a pretty big deal.
The truth of the matter is, life can feel like death by 1000 chicken pecks and that’s pretty normal, really. Even those who have good or picture-perfect seeming lives have those kind of frustrations. And to keep this on the spiritual track since I talk a lot about spirituality, the fact that you’re experiencing these frustrations doesn’t mean that you aren’t in disfavor with some deity. And it also doesn’t mean that you’re not “in alignment” with the universe.
Frustrations happen to everyone, and while I would like to improve my yoga and meditation practice, as someone who taps into these at least some time throughout most days, you can’t meditate your way out of life’s little hiccups. What meditation does for me in those circumstances is help me come back to myself, watch my self-talk, and put things in perspective.
The feed store being out of my horse feed ended up with me looking at all their offerings, finding a new one, and actually being able to save money on heart horse’s senior feed. Did it still suck? You betcha. But at least I could take away something good that would come out of the suck, though that is not required and not always possible.
The technical hiccups? That’s technology, and I have my suspicions that they’re going to get worse as things like “minimum viable product” and “enshittification” become even more commonplace in our world. Tech is only as good as the people and brains behind it, and the more people are being taken out of the tech equation as things are automated or left to computers to code, the worse the product is going to get. Yeah, there’s no lesson or takeaway there, except to remember it’s not your fault.
And thankfully the week that felt like death by 1000 chicken pecks finished and while there were new challenges the following week, because this is life, it is random, and that is what often happens, I honestly felt a bit more prepared. For me, being more relaxed and more in the moment and mindful about what I do from day to day didn’t mean that my life would suddenly be perfect. It meant that I could recognize when road blocks show up and ensure that I’m not just hitting my shins on them repeatedly as I try to get over. Instead, I can stop, be in the moment, and move forward with intention.
Comment Policy
Comments are open for up to 45 days after a blog is posted. After that blog comments are closed. Note that all comments are moderated and so it may take some time for the blog comment to post. Comments are not accepted that contain advertising or profanity. As we offer spiritual mentoring, comments may contain religious discussions and comments; however, please keep comments within the spirit of interfaith and spiritual community, rather than proselytizing.
