It's What I Like About Me

I've picked up the stick, and now I'm going to attempt to post the:




10 Things I Like About Myself:

1. I like the fact that I'm tall. Tallness is great, especially the fact that I'm not too tall. I'm 6'2", which lets me see over crowds fairly easily, get things off of high shelves, block a basketball shot (occasionally) and stretch for that errant throw from shortstop to first base. I'm not so tall that I have to consistently duck under things like doorways, fans, tree limbs. The only problem is that if I move the wrong way in the bed, sometimes my feet stick out the other end :)
   
   
2. I like the fact that I can sing, and am musical. I believe I have a good voice, and enjoy singing all kinds of styles - rock, jazz, show tunes, choral..(I don't have the chops for opera). I also love that I understand music. Anyone can appreciate it, but I think I understand it. I can feel key changes...see chords...I can understand the texture of notes, rythms, harmonies and counterpoints. I think it's almost like another sense to me, sometimes - one that only I have. That makes it difficult to explain to others, and at times it can get frustrating ("Don't you see?? You just have to blend into the new key at this point...."). But I think it's a precious gift.
   
   
3. I like that I seem to have a gift of empathy. No, I'm not an empath. Nor do I have a degree in psychology or other counseling... But a lot of times I seem to be able to feel what other people are feeling. If someone is sad or troubled, I can tell - it's probably more by facial expressions, vocal tone and body language than anything, but who knows? If a person is getting irritated or bored in a conversation, I can tell and gauge whether to continue or altar tactics. If someone us hurting, I want to help. Now, whether I can actually feel the rage and impatience burning inside the guy in the car behind me when I'm waiting to turn left at an intersection, I don't know - but it sure seems that way.
   
   
4. It goes without saying that I love being married and having a family. I love that I have the capacity to be a good husband and father. See the entire blog for details ;)
   
   
5. I like that I have the ability to take the optimistic point of view in a lot of things. We're living in a cynical world these days. More and more people tend to believe the worst in people: the rude waiter; the greasy-palmed politician, the hypocritical preacher; the corrupt cop; the bee-yatch who just cut you off in traffic; the list goes on and on... Sure these people exist but I reject the notion that we must assume these are the most likely scenarios. I would rather live life trusting in the much greater likelihood that the waiter just learned his girl left him, so he's not in the best of moods. Cut him some slack - maybe you're the one being rude. That soccer mom in the SUV with the cell phone pressed to her ear is not trying to run you off the road so she can get home to see "Desperate Housewives" - she's trying to find someone to pick up her girl at school before it closes so she can get home and take care of her son she just picked up at his school, who's running a 103-degree temp and her husband's out of town. Everyone has stories, everyone has their own problems and people have no right assuming it's all about themselves. I love I have the ability to look around the corner and understand that there are other worlds than these. Maybe that ties into #3, I don't know, but I think more it's just a basic trust in a humanity that has done me far, far more good than it's ever done me bad.
   
   
6. Wow, I'm up to 6 already? This wasn't quite as hard as I thought...
   
   I like the fact that I like children and they seem to like me and feel comfortable with me fairly easily. This, of course, helps with #4 above that I am very comfortable rolling in the floor wrestling with BrainyBoy or going out this morning to get the paper and listening carefully with Tink at the woodpeckers. Or being v-e-r-r-r-y careful not to bother the squirrels. I've taught and been around lots of kids my life and I love that I can appreciate their innocence, celebrate how they learn and explore and be a small part of their growth.
   
   
7. I like that I can see a problem and solve it - or at least help tie up loose ends (or people) and bring them together to solve a problem. So many times projects lie flapping around, undone - not through negligence or incompetance, but due to lack of direction. I can move them along and get a result. I think I would be a good project or department manager someday, if I can get a chance.
   
   
8. I like that I am spiritual and not only feel a responsibility to go to church, and raise my family in the church - but that I enjoy it. And that I can see and feel the presence of God in my life through my children, through nature, through the patterns of leaves growing on a particular branch to the direction a cloud races across a sky. The presence of God's surrounds me and I like that I can allow it to engulf me and take me along for the ride...
   
   
9. I like that I am passionate about a lot of things. I wish that I had more opportunities to direct those passions into things that are useful and constructive...
   
   
10. I like having a healthy sense of humor. I love to laugh ("---Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha--loud, and long, and clear...") and I love to make people laugh. I love to belly laugh at a Bugs Bunny cartoon. I love to chuckle when Hawkeye puts down Frank Burns. I love to laugh at a great joke. I love to tell jokes. I love to laugh in a group, in an audience, to feel that communal sense of shared joy. I love to hear my kids laugh. I love to see the humor that can come out of the worst of tragedies, that reminds us all is not lost, and there is always hope. I love to see someone's face turn from a dark thundercloud, to a light rain, to a sun breaking through as their emotions change from sad to happy. Humor, as they say, is 90% timing, 10% material, and 10% irony.
    
    
    
    Ain't I a stinker?