Th'Muse

I promise.    Just because it is stormy outside, it doesn’t mean you have to feel stormy inside.   Now this example won’t work for those of us who flourish in rain, or will it?    Let’s compare Bill (assuming he hates bad weather) and me.  I was raised in South San Francisco.   It was foggy and bleak, nearly every day.   Really.   I’d have to call my friend down the hill to see what to wear, because the pea soup I lived in, I could never tell.   So, the weather man says rain.   I smile, pull out my favorite boots and maybe the camera.   Bill on the other hand, gets up, grumbles at his wife, slams the door to the car and yells at the cat. “I hate this weather, it always puts me in a bad mood!”  Really?   The weather has that power?   The weather causes Bill to have a bad day?   How about people?   “He makes me so mad!” . . . “She really irritates me!” . . . Oh?   “That makes me crazy!”  ...

I Read this today about Children. . . “We can hurt a child’s self-esteem by: 1. Putting them down. 2. Breaking Promises. 3. Not allowing them choices and independence 4. Not giving them respect and privacy 5. Denying their feelings and personal identify. 6. Not being consistent. Joyce and Dennis Ashton 9n “But If Not” V3p71 All excellent advice and certainly very true. BUT. . . Doesn’t each one of these apply to all people? Adults included? I believe so. What happens when someone puts YOU down? Does it increase your awareness? Do you immediately respond with ‘Well now, that was insightful, I think I’ll change right away?” I highly doubt it. Usually we respond in one of two ways, defensiveness or ignoring. Neither are helpful or uplifting. What about a broken promise? While it causes the person who broke the promise to diminish in your estimation, don’t we often thing, “Well, s/he must not really care about me. . . S/he must think I’m not worth following th...