Today was a good day. It's rare to catch me saying anything different, because I always say "it's all about attitude". When I say that, some people look at me with a blank stare like I'm from another planet. Actually I just might be. I scare people sometimes with my big, friendly smile. Then I back off a little, slow down my energy, and follow their mannerisms so they feel more comfortable. It's fascinating reading books on personality styles - driver or lion, expressive or monkey, analytical or giraffe, and phlegmatic or turtle. I think you get the idea. Florence Littauer wrote a book on social styles years ago and it is very helpful to understand ourselves, our co-workers, and certainly our mates, or significant other. There are also other books on the same subject.
My simple mind sees life in technicolor and surround sound, and I like it that way. I like to work hard and play hard. I like to help my neighbor and I know I can count on my neighbor to help me.
I wasn't just born this way, I have worked at it. And sometimes it wasn't pretty. But I would have to say a big asset is a good imagination and a positive attitude. I was a happy child with low self confidence, and very needy.
Something happened to me in my early thirties. I think I was tired of not being able to say what I meant. I used to be a door mat. I would go over every bit of a conversation, over and over, and decide what I should have said, and then be mad that I didn't say something else. Have you ever done that? Of course, we all have. We are human beings. Or I like to say 'human becomings'. I borrowed that from an author and I love it. The very first book I read from the self improvement section of my local bookstore (when we had bookstores on every Main Street), was How To Say No Without Feeling Guilty. That was 30 years ago, and the number of books I have read now is in the hundreds. But I am still on that quest of learning, growing, and changing. I have moved onto writing and photography and videography. For some strange reason I pick up unusual words, phrases, and quotes from movies, radio, television, and periodicals. And then I want to write them down, because I think 'that's so clever and maybe I can use it somewhere'. I have paper and pen in every room of my house, except the bathrooms, so I don't lose the opportunity to jot things down.
I guess I am an odd duck, as the saying goes. Do you ever feel like you don't fit in? None of us fit in. We are all odd ducks and the problem is we need to be happy that we are the way we are. And be prepared to learn how to get along with the other odd ducks in the neighborhood. That's all we need to do - be happy being an odd duck and learn to like the odd ducks that live on either side of us! Isn't life about getting along?!
God bless us all! Aleta
"The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitude of mind." William James, psychologist
No comments:
Post a Comment