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Tag: upset

Keep Your Hair On

Keep Your Hair On

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Keep Your Hair On -- Girl with hair blowing around her faceHave you ever been in a windstorm where you felt like your hair was lifting off your head? If you wear a wig, the results can be disastrous and hilarious. You want to keep your hair on. Therefore, you hope the wind calms so your hair can do the same.

To keep your hair on means to stay calm.

People say this if you are:

They often say it as an order. They want you to get a grip.

You hear this expression primarily in the UK.

An American equivalent is to keep your shirt on. Both expressions caution you to regain control.

Keeping your hair on helps you be your best self.

Remaining calm and patient leads to a better:

  • Attitude
  • Blood pressure
  • Relationship with others

I pray you stay settled and at peace.

“I have calmed and quieted myself” (Psalm 131:2 NIV).

Thanks to Victor S E Moubarak for the suggestion. Image by Petra from Pixabay.

Do you have an expression you want explained or a thought about this one? If so, please comment below.

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Hit the Roof

Hit the Roof

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Hit the Roof: Fist up through shattered glassPeople rarely hit the roof physically. However, they frequently hit the roof emotionally.

To hit the roof means to become extremely angry or upset.

According to The Idioms, the expression refers to “being so enraged that you could actually bang your head on the roof (or ceiling) … because you feel like exploding.” Similar expressions include:

People lose their temper.

Reasons people hit the roof vary.

For example, they get angry when they:

  • Fail to get their way
  • See rules broken
  • Experience loss or injury
  • Discover betrayal

Hit the roof also refers to sharp price increases.

  • Goods and services grow more expensive.
  • Stocks rise.

If people invest money, they enjoy those increases. If they make purchases, they want the costs to remain low.

It pays to invest emotions and finances wisely.

Maintain control and do what’s right. Spend time and money productively.

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice” (Ephesians 4:31 NIV).

Thanks to Lindy Pierce for the suggestion. Image by wendy CORNIQUET from Pixabay.

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Ruffled Feathers

Ruffled Feathers

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Ruffled Feathers--white bird with ruffled feathers

Notice this bird’s ruffled feathers. The bird may feel mad or scared. It may want to appear stronger if it fears attack. Or a blowing wind may have caused the feathers to stick out. It makes me think of people on bad-hair days.

If we have ruffled feathers, we feel angry or frightened.

Circumstances or people make us:

  • Annoyed
  • Upset
  • Aggravated
  • Afraid

We don’t like what they did or how they did it. They get our goat by irritating us with their words or behavior. Or they scare us.

Riled up has a similar meaning.

Occasionally we combine the two by saying, “Don’t get your feathers all riled up.” Such reactions may occur about:

  • Wars
  • Insults
  • Politics
  • Injustice
  • Negative reactions to anything or anyone we love

Rather than rile or ruffle feathers, let’s try to calm or smooth them.

Bad hair days cause no real harm. Ruffled feathers can.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9 NIV).

Thanks to Beverly Ennis for the suggestion and the photo.

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Fiddlesticks

Fiddlesticks

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Fiddlesticks- a violin and bow on grass amid autumn leavesFiddlesticks often flies from my mouth. Not the actual bows used to play fiddles, but an expression of frustration. I say it when I:

  • Forget an important item or event.
  • Drop what I’m carrying.
  • Believe something is foolish.

Fiddlesticks expresses frustration or impatience.

It also means to be annoyed or to think something makes no sense. The situation or statement sounds or looks like garbage.

Fiddlesticks moments can change into creative ones.

We can turn our frustration or impatience into opportunity. If we don’t like the way things are, we do something about it. When we don’t have the resources we want, we use the resources we have.

For example, another little-known form of fiddlesticks exists. According to The Creole State Exhibit of Louisiana’s Living Traditions, fiddlesticks were “a traditional way of adding percussion…. As one person played the fiddle, another tapped out a rhythm on the strings.”

Wikipedia explains that the second person used “a pair of straws, sticks, or knitting needles to tap out a rhythm on the strings over the upper fingerboard (between the bow and the fiddler’s fingering hand).”

By using their existing resources, they added variety to their music.

We choose: Remain upset or adjust our circumstances.

Like the makers of the rhythmic fiddlesticks, we may have to make do with what we have. Yet, who knows what a difference we can make until we try?

“O my soul, don’t be discouraged. Don’t be upset. Expect God to act! For I know that I shall again have plenty of reason to praise him for all that he will do. He is my help! He is my God!” (Psalm 42:11 TLB).

Thanks to Laurel Blevins and Karen Hart for the suggestion. Image by Iryna Bakurskaya from Pixabay.

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Kick Myself

Kick Myself

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Kick Myself--boy posed to kickI hate to lose anything. When that happens, I could just kick myself.

My dad often quoted the proverbial “a place for everything and everything in its place.” That does make life easier. However, things occasionally get misplaced.

Kick myself means I get upset or angry about something I did or failed to do.

  • I’m frustrated.
  • I scold myself, either aloud or in my mind.
  • I’m disappointed by my actions or inactions.

 It also means to regret my behavior or failure.

Examples include when:

  • I miss an opportunity to help others.
  • My words or actions hurt anyone.
  • I forget an important occasion.

Rather than kick myself, I need to correct what I did.

I want to:

  • Search for what I lost.
  • Take advantage of future opportunities.
  • Use my words and actions to help rather than hurt.
  • Apologize for misdeeds.

No one is perfect.

As long as I am alive and kicking, I will make mistakes.

God offers a better way than to kick myself.

 When I fail to follow God’s perfect way, confession is good for the soul. God extends forgiveness and the opportunity for a fresh start when I come clean.

God offers that same opportunity to you.

“‘I turned away from God, but I was sorry afterwards. I kicked myself for my stupidity. I was thoroughly ashamed of all I did in younger days.’ And the Lord replies: Ephraim is still my son, my darling child. I had to punish him, but I still love him. I long for him and surely will have mercy on him.’” (Jeremiah 31:19-20 TLB).

Thanks to Laura Lee Leathers for the suggestion and to Katherine Bonds for the photo.

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Cool as a Cucumber

Cool as a Cucumber

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Cool as a Cucumber--sliced cucumberSome people stay cool as a cucumber.

Whether good times or bad, they remain calm.

Cucumbers are mostly water, which keeps them cool. A slice of cucumber in a glass of water provides cool refreshment on a hot summer day.

However, cool as a cucumber does not refer to a cool temperature. It means people who rarely get upset.

  • Plans don’t go their way. They make other plans.
  • People mistreat them. They still treat those people well.
  • Losses occur. They give thanks for what they had.

They live an easy-does-it life and look for the light at the end of the tunnel.

Few things get them down.

When they do get down, they soon rise again and keep going. They know that nothing in this life lasts forever. Therefore, they make the most of the moments they have.

Cool as a cucumber people spread peace.

By staying calm and peaceful, they help people around them stay calm and peaceful.

Peace that never fails can be found when anyone lets go and lets God.

“[God’s] peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7 TLB).

Thanks to Janna Babak for the suggestion.

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Fit to be Tied

Fit to be Tied

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Fit to be tied-rope tied into a heart shapeMost of us have occasional fit-to-be-tied moments. We become:

  • Angry
  • Upset
  • Excited

We fly off the handle.

When fit to be tied, we get out of control.

Our emotions grow so great, we need someone to calm us down. No one actually ties us. However, they do try to:

  • Prevent anything we will regret
  • Keep us from hurting ourselves or someone else

We may grow fit to be tied for selfish reasons. 

  • When we don’t get our way
  • If our plans don’t work

We may also grow fit to be tied for unselfish reasons.

  • When someone abuses a child or older adult
  • If someone lies, steals, or hurts people in any other way

Little things often make us fit to be tied.

Some of us deal well with life’s big problems. Yet, we blow off steam when faced with small ones such as:

  • Slow traffic
  • Food spills on a clean floor
  • Noisy neighbors

God gave us emotions.

However, we want to use those emotions for good, not harm. How do we do that?

  • Recognize what upsets us.
  • Remember we can’t control everything.
  • Change what we can.
  • Ask for help when we need it.
  • Focus on what matters most.
  • Ask God to guide us and work through us.
  • Choose to love everyone, including those who make us fit to be tied.

“Don’t let your spirit rush to be angry, for anger abides in the heart of fools” (Ecclesiastes 7:9 HCSB).

Thanks to Pat Stapp for the suggestion.

Do you have an expression you want explained or a thought about this one? If so, please comment below.

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Cry Over Spilled Milk

Cry Over Spilled Milk

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Cry Over Spilled Milk--a glass of spilled milk“Dry your tears. There is no need to cry over spilled milk.”

As a child, I often heard those words. Sometimes I had spilled milk. Usually I was unhappy about something I could not change.

We cry over spilled milk when upset about what we cannot control. Often what upset us occurred in the past.

We cannot undo the past.

We cannot unspill milk. Neither can we undo anything that has already happened. The past is water under the bridge.

We can do something about the present and future.

  • If something bad happened in the past, we can learn from the experience.
  • If something good happened, we can remember and smile.
  • If we hurt someone, we can ask forgiveness.
  • If someone hurt us, we can forgive.

Instead of crying over spilled milk, we can let bygones be bygones. We can choose to grow from all that happens, good or bad.

“One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead” (Philippians 3:13 NIV).

Do you have an expression you want explained or a thought about this one? If so, please comment below.

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