A country kid, working on raising chickens, knitting, caring for my home, and just generally watching the world go by.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Jelly in the Belly? Noooo...
I don't know if anyone else uses this term, "Jelly" for nervousness? In high school some of my friends would say they were "jelly-legged", or had felt like they had eaten jelly (or something) and it had soured.
I have never felt 'jelly' when I am nervous.
Fear, on occasion, like when I was on the high dive, trying to get my courage up, and the (censored) coach threw me in. I screamed all the way down, took in water, and barely made it back to the edge of the pool. Then I wouldn't go on the high dive, and she just couldn't understand why. Can't to this day. Now that is jelly legs. I even look at a high dive and start to shake.
But nerves? No jelly. I can be as cool as a cucumber. (Well, except for the turning even whiter than my usually fair skin. I keep thinking if I get much whiter, I might just go invisible one of these days...) But I get a ROCK in my belly. Not butterflies, not jelly, but a solid mass, that feels like I ate a medicine ball.
I had an interview yesterday. It was in front of more than a dozen or so people, and I hate with a passion speaking in front of people. I dislike almost as much talking about myself. Blogging is fine, but speaking just about tears me up. (No, I don't do well in job interviews, without an extensive amount of practice in the days before... Something tells me I wouldn't do so well in sales.)
So, I had to do both. Thankfully, I didn't have to stand, or I might have probably thrown up... Gotta get rid of the medicine ball somehow...
And oh, joy, the ball was right there in my gut. I was dry mouthed, squeaked a couple times when I talked, and when I was challenged once, I nearly lost any thread of thought to respond. I did manage to, and might have even sounded coherent. I hope, anyway. And through it all, I didn't shake, no jelly.
Odd, the terms we use for slang, yes? I guess with slang, your mileage may vary...
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6 comments:
Like Ole Saint Nick, I have a "...belly that shakes when I laugh like a bowlful of jelly." Does that count?
Yes, i've heard of legs like jelly. That has only happened to me a couple of times.
Hope you don't have to go through that again.
Great post! I had the hardest time thinking of a j word! Jelly is a great word!
I, too, have a hard time with public speaking. But I guess (this is hypothetical) the more you do it, the easier it gets! :)
I so hate public speaking or speaking in front of more than two people that I don't know....makes me too nervous and anxious.
I get the jelly legs and the pounding chest! You probably pass off the medicine ball without many noticing!
I get butterflies... clenching stomach... don't like it! Don't like interviews. My last was with 9 or so folks around a table. I KNEW the people... but still I was a wreck. Then for the next 24 hours I replayed the interview and picked at every single stupid thing I said and magnified each error. I had nightmares... when I slept and wasn't berating myself. Awful. I hope your interview went well.
You are right. We have some strange language to describe things... indeed!
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