Cranky Pants

I apologize for the delay in updating this blog. I had an interview recently for a maternity leave position in a school and I've accepted it! It doesn't begin until April but I'm happy that at least something happened. I almost feel like the universe set things up this way. I don't think I would have done yoga school unless I had this much free time and by the time I start this position, yoga school will be about a month away from completion. I'm hoping that I find some places to teach over the summer and also that I find a full-time position for the fall! Woo! Here's to some positive energy.

In addition to my upcoming position, I also started a separate Instagram account just for my yoga fun. I wanted to create a space for yoga life and all things zen for anyone who might be interested. If you have an Instagram account and feel compelled to follow, my name is jerseyjenyoga. I'd love to have your support :-)

Aside from the above updates, I wanted to briefly chat about the times when we wear our cranky pants. I can almost guarantee that every woman and and a good percentage of men every one of us owns a pair of cranky pants. The amazing and magical thing about cranky pants is that they can suddenly appear on us regardless of what we're wearing. We ladies can go from wearing a lovely summer dress to our ugliest pair of cranky pants just like a dapper man can transition from a classy suit to his crankiest trousers. They're the pants that look terrible and turn us into that person we don't like.

You all know exactly what I'm talking about.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, here is the link to the Urban Dictionary definition(s) for "cranky pants": http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=crankypants

You're not angry. You're not mad. You're not perturbed. You're not agitated. You're cranky. The worst part is that your crankiness usually ends up getting catapulted at the nearest innocent bystander faster than they can even realize you're wearing your cranky pants. It's those times when you have plans to go out and every little thing is bothering you. It's the times when your significant other has done nothing wrong and yet you uncontrollably sass him or her.

The fact is, we all have cranky pants and oftentimes, we don't even know we're wearing them until we've done or said something or acted in some way that was really and truly unnecessary. So what do we do? How do we minimize the impact of these ever powerful pantaloons?

Self-awareness.

It's one of those difficult yet important things that can impact various aspects of our lives. The better self-awareness we have, the more quickly we'll recognize the pants we're wearing and will, with any luck, be able to take the steps needed to change into the appropriate ensemble, sans cranky pants. Self-awareness is one of those lifelong developments that is always growing and transforming as we ourselves grow and transform. How it applies to cranky pants is that once we're aware of the pants we have on, we can take those steps to minimize the impact. Only a small percentage of people in this world go out of their way to hurt those they love. For the rest of us, becoming more self-aware about when our emotions or actions can affect the people closest to us really is an amazing quality to possess. It's something I know that I continue to work on so that I can catch myself and recognize my thoughts or feelings before I displace them onto someone who really doesn't deserve them. It goes a long way in all types of relationships.

Here's a little more information about self-awareness for those of you who may be curious: http://www.pathwaytohappiness.com/self-awareness.htm

So let's all make an effort to keep the cranky pants hung in the back of the closet. I know it's just plain nuts to thing that we'd all get rid of them. Honestly, it's part of being human to wear them sometimes. But the more aware we are of when they're on, the better we can be at knowing how to make a costume change.