This is going to be a tough one. It is 9:45 and I am just now starting my ‘e’ post for the a to z challenge. My faithful supporter, Joe, gave me the topic of “exacerbating”. What-er bating?? EXACERbating. It is not easy tackling a verb as a topic but I’ll give it my best shot!

Being a rather cheery sort, I know it will come as a bit of a surprise that sometimes I get irritated. I try hard to keep this in check and with some things, on some days, I am very successful at laughing things off. But there are a few little things that consistently annoy me.

1. When people I do not know call me “hon”. Sometimes they even do it in written form. This is double the annoyance because inevitably they spell it “hun”. At least if you are going to label me as such spell it correctly.

2. The term “you’s” as in “When are you’s coming for a visit?”. The only thing that would make it more irritating would be if it were in written form and it was spelled “use”.

3. Warm beer. No explanation required.

4. The endless amount of passwords and PINS we are supposed to remember. Listen. I am not getting any younger. There is only so much space in my head for remembering silly little series’ of numbers - not to mention it’s a boring use of a limited resource.

5. People who talk constantly about their ailments. Monday they have a cold, by Wednesday it’s a throat infection and by Friday it’s full-blown pneumonia. When you wear your illness’ like badges of honour it is irritating. Being ill is not a status symbol. Go find yourself another way of getting attention. Off you go.

6. Being really hungry only to arrive at a restaurant that does not have a table available. This happened to me tonight. Very serendipitous really. At least it set the mood for tonight’s blog post.

7. Phony people who speak with an affected tone of voice. They use fake laughter to punctuate every human interaction. I see through your lack of sincerity from the minute you open your mouth. Take off the mask and go find yourself some integrity.

Okay I need to stop RIGHT NOW. This is exacerbating! Joe did you do this on purpose? Good god, I feel like throwing the radio in!

To counteract the negativity and for Joe, in honour of his hometown in Florida (and to regain my sunny disposition ) I will end on a light note. This is a little story from Gordon Livingston, an author and doctor who writes about coping with all of life’s ups and downs. In the face of life’s “downs”, Dr. Livingston believes a sense of humour is one of life’s most powerful antidotes.

“When I was undergoing Army Ranger training years ago, I remember the extreme stress, physical exhaustion, and fear that we could never show but that nearly overwhelmed us at times. One cold night our patrol was chest deep in a north Florida swamp, making slow progress while visions of cottonmouths and alligators danced in our heads. My Ranger buddy turned to me and whispered, “Are you sure this is the quickest way to Orlando?”

Now, THAT, is a positive attitude!