Be Nice!

We are ‘supposed’ to celebrate the differences in people.  Viva La Différence.  Variety is the Spice of Life.  And I get it; the differences between people are what keeps the world going and makes life exciting.  If we were all clones, life would be incredibly dull.  But what I will never understand is unfriendly people and I downright dislike nasty, mean people.  The ‘experts’ say that you are supposed to be your own oasis and not let others get to you; however, as a friendly, outgoing person, I do feel slighted or hurt by others’ unfriendly actions. 

Let me paint a picture for you and you tell me if it is normal, human behavior. You are walking down a hallway at work (mind you, this is at a relatively small business office with ~ 50 people) and you come face to face with someone, to which you automatically greet the person with a “Good Morning”.  The other person merely looks down and keeps on walking, with no acknowledgement whatsoever. 

Now I could understand having the point of view of not wanting to be friendly to strangers, if you are out in public.  And I know that people will fight for the introverts here, saying only the extroverts are outwardly friendly.  But in a small office work setting…where you are every weekday…with a relatively small group of people…seriously?  I will truly never get it.  In fact, I can honestly say that I have had friendlier encounters when passing a stranger out in public. 

I often wonder how these people get along in life.  Maybe they are able operate by just depending on themselves, being centered within themselves, not needing or caring about others.  But I have problems with this theory.  For one reason, the majority of these people have families: parents, significant others, some even have children; in other words, they do have interactions with loved ones.  And even if they did not have any family, they would still have to interact with people for all facets of their life (grocery stores, doctors, etc.).  So all I can conclude is that they are just unfriendly people, for whatever reason.  The other reason I have a problem with this whole ‘you are your own island, your only concern is yourself,’ theory, is that the resulting world would be a very cold place to live.  Caring about others, and feeling connected to others, is what helps you get through this life.  It makes the hard times more bearable and the good times more enjoyable.

 Well, I for one, choose to be nice.  And have no doubt, it is a choice. 

Addendum: I had just finished writing this entry when I found out that a good friend of mine has ovarian cancer and has to have a complete hysterectomy in two days.  (Even more worrisome regarding this news is that she had breast cancer 3 years ago.)  This only reinforces my message:

Life is short.  Be nice.

Passionately and Compassionately Yours,

Me

Motivational Moment:

Today’s Moment is another of Life’s Little LaughablesTM:

We celebrated Thanksgiving with my husband’s family last weekend.  And one of our traditions is to have everyone name at least one thing for which they are thankful.  I like starting with the kids because it is nice to hear their thoughts.  We had the older kids (ages 8 – 13) go first so that they younger kids would have a clue as to what to do.  The older kids have been through this and knew the ‘routine’, hence they quickly mumbled the typical “friends, family, food” type of responses.  My 5 year-old niece went next and said (in her sweet little voice), “I am thankful for butterflies and friends and family.”  It was absolutely precious.   I love the sweet innocence of youth!

May you all have many things for which you are thankful. 

Perfectionism...or Not

I have a new favorite website: Huffington Post's The Third Metric: Redefining Success Beyond Money & Power.

Today, there were three article's on their Third Metric page that were blog-spirational for me (I was so excited to think I just came up with a new word; however, when I googled it, there were many other "blog-spired" entries before me). 

The first article that caught my eye was the one on Perfectionists, since I have recently discovered I may have some perfectionist tendencies.  If you asked me a couple of years ago, I would have told you that I was not a perfectionist, but that my younger sister was absolutely one.  She HAD to have straight A's, whereas I just liked having straight A's.  She went on to become a lawyer whereas I am still undecided as to what I want to be when I grow up.  So, if you had asked me, I would have told you that I was NOT a perfectionist...that is, until I read THIS article.

Now mind you - most of the 14 items in the article are not really a good fit for me (so perhaps my perfectionist status is debatable); however a few are dead on.  For example, # 8: I take everything personally; # 9: I get really defensive when criticized; # 10: I am not quite "there yet" (hell - I don't even know where "there" is!); and # 14: I have a guilty soul (I always thought this had to do with being raised Catholic).  There were also some other comments in there about having anxiety and existential crises which perhaps I could identify with...

The ones that do not fit my personality:
# 2: "You know your drive to perfection is hurting you, but you consider it the price you pay for success."  This one mentions a 'no pain, no gain' mentality (yea...I hate pain); it also says perfectionists are not ok being average (I am fine being average - I just wish I was rich!). 
# 6: "You have a hard time opening up to other people."  Hmmm...well...not so much.  I am pretty much a tell-all, open book. 
# 12: "You take pleasure in someone else’s failure, even though it has nothing to do with you." I absolutely do not enjoy other's failures, although I am super jealous of big successes (but I think that is more an immaturity issue rather than a perfectionist issue);
# 13: "You get secretly nostalgic for your school days."  Uhhh - hell no!  I hated being in school!  All I did was study and stress myself out over getting A's!  My older sister, on the other hand, SHE is nostalgic for her college days, but that has nothing to do with academics.

The other two articles I enjoyed from today's Third Metric were: 10 Decisions Happy People Make (link) (ironically, most of these coincide with the perfectionist article - and what not to do) and 11 Reasons You Should Be Having More Orgasms (link) (you won't hear any arguments from me).  See - is this "Third Metric" a feel good website or what?!  I love it!  I could have a lot of fun commenting on (and assesing myself from) these two articles as well, but I'll save that for a rainy day.

Loving the Inspiration,
Me

Motivational Moment:

Today's Moment is another of Life’s Little LaughablesTM :

1.     Talking with Lola again at work.  This chic says classic lines on a daily basis.  We were talking about the shenanigans of some 20-somethings and she said: “They are the young and the restless; we are the old and the weary.”  True…so very true.

2.    Talking with a 20-something Engineer about gluten-free diets.  He said: “I know several females who are gluten-free, but no males.  You women really are the weaker sex.”  This comment came only a couple days after I was speaking with another male co-worker who said: “You women are a wreck!”  Ahhhh, the never ending saga of Venus versus Mars.

Today, my friends, I wish you laughter and smiles, whether that be from something you read, see, feel, or discuss.   

 

For the Love of Lip Balm!

I recently introduced a friend at work to my blog.  I loved it when he said I should blog about one of our recent conversations (about only trying to change the things at work that we had control over).  I immediately thought of what I would write; so with a smile on my face, I told him I would blog about him (just not for the reason he thought).

Today's blog is dedicated to CB.  I would have named it "Chapstick Porn", but the eternal worrier in me didn't want to offend anyone.

So, as stated above, CB is a male - a male who is in love with his lip balm.  He basically makes love to it when he puts it on.  I told him that it is just not right how he applies it; he really should only apply his lip balm in private.  But no, he loves his lip balm and is proud of it.  He happily puts it on wherever he is, even in the middle of the production floor.

In fact, the other day, we were out at a run on the floor, and he dropped his lip balm while applying it.  It rolled across the shop floor.  He picked it up, wiped off the tip, and immediately re-applied it.

Of course, any of you who know me for the germ-a-phobe that I am, knew I was horrified at witnessing his action.  I told him it should have been immediately thrown away.  At the very least, the entire plastic holder needed to be disinfected, so that the next time he twisted up the lip balm, it wouldn't go through a bacteria fiesta.  But alas, he did not listen.  I told him he might as well have just kissed the entire production floor.  Blech!!

CB - thanks for being blog-worthy.  :)

Germ-A-Phobically Yours,
Me

Motivational Moment:

This quick little moment goes to two other friends from work.  I am now calling these Life’s Little LaughablesTM:

1. My friend made a comment about my grays starting to show.  And I said: "Yep. I am done putting that toxic crap on my head."  She grabbed my shoulder, looked me in the eye, and said: "Friends don't let friends go gray!".  *sigh*  My never ending battle (as evident in several different blogs) with aging gracefully.

2. I was lamenting to another friend, saying my bohemian personality just doesn't fit in at work.  Which led us to having a discussion of our wish lists of our perfect jobs.  She then said to me: "I have come to realize that there is no perfect job, just like there is no perfect man."  True words.  None of us are perfect; I am as flawed as they come; however, may we continue to search for the job that fits our personality the best and that we can enjoy the most.  Life is too short to be miserable over things that are within our control to change.

May all of you have friends who make you laugh during your day; after all, laughter is the best medicine!

And finally - a shout out to a good friend: Happy Bday B!!  Glad you were born!  :)