What comes to mind when you hear the term – crabby Appletons? That is what Grouchy looks like to me. A crabby-looking apple. Perhaps a person with a cross-looking face, a stern evil eye perhaps.

What does Grouchy feel like? Where do you feel it in your body? It feels like grumbling Grandpa. It feels frustrating like nothing seems to go the way you’re expecting it to. I feel Grouchiness all over my body, everything feels lethargic and like nothing is operating smoothly.

What is the function of Grouchy? For me, feeling this emotion functions as a signal that perhaps it is time for some alone time; time to do something just for me. I don’t always see that, and I tend to just hang with the grouch, but when I’m aware enough to understand and name the grouch, then I think it opens me up to spend some quality time with myself. Identifying it seems to be half the battle; I’m so very often unaware that I’m grouchy when I am feeling grouchy.

When I feel grouchy, allowing myself to recognize it gives me information. With that information, I can then make choices about it. Being aware enough to see it gives me the freedom to live deliberately. I can choose to dance with being grouchy and turn it into something, instead, that benefits me. This puts me in control of my world and what I want my experience in this world to be.

The next time you find yourself in the grouchy zone, give yourself permission to name it and explore it a bit. What does grouchy look like to you? How does it feel to you? How is it working for you? If being grouchy had a purpose with your best interests in mind, what would that be?

Living organisms are feeling organisms…