Awkward Hugs Still Count...right?
This post may give some of you an a-ha moment about why you feel weird about me or why you like me...most of you probably don't think about me at all, which is good actually.
Confession: I AM AN AWKWARD HUGGER
Before I met my husband, Phil, I avoided hugs like it was my job. And then, of course, God has you marry someone that makes you crazy (in mostly good ways) and my husband could make a million dollars a year as a professional hugger. And so our worlds collided and for the past 7.7 years my attempts at hugging more has led to the realization that I am BAD at it.
I'm starting to believe the success of the hug has to do with the approach. I do much better if someone confidently hugs me and I can reciprocate right back, but if there is hesitation on either part the outcome makes me want to shrink to the size of Tom Thumb and then die laughing all at the same time. I've ended up with my face directly in peoples' armpits (mostly taller dudes), I've ended up with my face smothered in cleavage (I'm 5 foot tall, so this happens when I hug grandma's and the like who are a bit taller than me). There are plenty of times where one of my arms gets trapped in between me and the other person and all I can think is, "well, this is weird."
Last week as I was leaving a counseling appointment, where my counselor happens to be shorter than I am, I went in for a hug and basically head butted her instead, which broke her glasses. I watched the frames crumble right off of her face. In complete embarrassment I said, "I totally just broke your glasses" to which my counselor reassured me they were already broken and had been super glued previously. I did still break the super glue though and my conclusions about myself we reassured once again. I head butt people when I'm trying to hug them and that's bad.
So, if for some reason I don't jump in for a hug it is not personal. It actually means I probably really like you and don't want to subject my friend to an accidental injury. I'll keep practicing though and practice makes perfect and failure only leads to improvement.
Right??
Confession: I AM AN AWKWARD HUGGER
Before I met my husband, Phil, I avoided hugs like it was my job. And then, of course, God has you marry someone that makes you crazy (in mostly good ways) and my husband could make a million dollars a year as a professional hugger. And so our worlds collided and for the past 7.7 years my attempts at hugging more has led to the realization that I am BAD at it.
I'm starting to believe the success of the hug has to do with the approach. I do much better if someone confidently hugs me and I can reciprocate right back, but if there is hesitation on either part the outcome makes me want to shrink to the size of Tom Thumb and then die laughing all at the same time. I've ended up with my face directly in peoples' armpits (mostly taller dudes), I've ended up with my face smothered in cleavage (I'm 5 foot tall, so this happens when I hug grandma's and the like who are a bit taller than me). There are plenty of times where one of my arms gets trapped in between me and the other person and all I can think is, "well, this is weird."
Last week as I was leaving a counseling appointment, where my counselor happens to be shorter than I am, I went in for a hug and basically head butted her instead, which broke her glasses. I watched the frames crumble right off of her face. In complete embarrassment I said, "I totally just broke your glasses" to which my counselor reassured me they were already broken and had been super glued previously. I did still break the super glue though and my conclusions about myself we reassured once again. I head butt people when I'm trying to hug them and that's bad.
So, if for some reason I don't jump in for a hug it is not personal. It actually means I probably really like you and don't want to subject my friend to an accidental injury. I'll keep practicing though and practice makes perfect and failure only leads to improvement.
Right??
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