16 November 2011
exhaustible
It turns out self control is an exhaustible resource. Ask people not to eat some cookies and they wonkt, but they will give up more easily on a later difficult task than someone who wasn't asked to resist. Today at work was fairly exhausting in self-control terms: systems failures, unexpected overtime work, urgent demands for immediate feedback, meetings, multiple phone calls that were interrupted by other phone calls, and major contract / financial drama. And unfortunately, I don't have anyone I can get help from on _any_ of these issues. So when I got home and C was throwing a temper tantrum about eating the delicious dinner that J had prepared (which C loves eating) I was very grateful that J responded calmly and with love. Although my reserves were nearly exhausted, her help and example gave me a boost so I could help our daughter get through her bedtime routine without any shouting or plopping her into her bed crying. So thank you my dear for being so wonderful!
You're so nice. You are usually the one who saves me from my very exhaustible self-control at the end of a long day. Love you!
ReplyDeleteIt is so great to have a spouse who can and will take over, and has that patience when we don't. Hooray for fabulous spouses!
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