A Most Excellent Question in Laughing in Circles

If you can't whine in your own writings, where can you? mcbee

I work pretty hard at not whining, but this doesn't mean that I don't have a designated safe-place to do so. In addition, I believe there is language that I can use that doesn't burden the friend, the family member or the innocent stranger who asks, 'How ya feelin' today?' For example: All things considered, I'm doing great. And indeed, if I am standing and can see only one of them, I'm having a fantastic day. Okay, I jest. Partly.

If I have an undeniable whine demanding a vocal exit, I will find a way to do it with grace, and with brevity. I am not always successful, but for the most part, I don't do too bad. It's the kids who whine the most about it. "Why do I have to walk the dog?!" and, "You're taking a nap today, too?"

I have also found that when I whine, I become stressed. Stress is a trigger for migraine, which brings about worse dizziness. I become a living, breathing, self-fulfilling prophecy.

Whining also tends to be habit forming - at least for me. Like a noxious weed, it wraps itself around me and chokes out the positive. Before too long, I can't see the light and the greatest part of my existence becomes about the disorder.

And finally, this is an invisible condition. Aside from trailing a hand on a wall to give my body some stable input, or occasionally swaying or stumbling, people have no clue about the diagnosis or what it entails. Adding a whine to the mix offers arm-chair diagnosticians their very own practice, with me as their patient. Just had a nurse tell me that if I lost weight, I would be better. And you have no idea how many practicing, unlicensed diagnosticians there are, out there in this world.

And.......I needed a place where I could emphasize the positive despite the condition. It's a sort of Bronx'ish chin-pop in the face of this medical stuff.