Answering questions

October 20, 2009 · 6 comments

Bejewell wrote a post asking some deep questions. It was a bit much to leave in the comments of her post, so I’m answering here.  Please go to her place and comment, or write your own answers here or on your own blog and leave me the link so I can share with her.

Are you smart?  yes, but more importantly, I have common sense.

Are you deep?  I’m not an extraordinarily deep thinker, but I’m certainly not shallow.  I have my moments of hoping if I ignore something it will just go away; I also have moments of complete and thorough thinking – over-thinking, even.

Are you funny?  I think I am. 🙂

Are you bitter? In general, no. Though admittedly, I am jealous of some people, or some things that people have that I don’t. But bitter? Nah. It’s a waste of energy.

Are you honest with yourself? I think I am. Sometimes it takes me awhile to come around to what I know is true, but I get there. Are you honest with others? I try to be. If not, why not?

If you see someone hurting, do you wrap your arms around them and tell them everything will be okay?  Yes. Or do you think, “That’s too bad,” and mind your own business?  Only if it’s something I can’t do anything about – something I hear about or see on the news with no connections to.

Would you knowingly hurt another person? Not out of the blue, no. If they hurt you first, would that make it okay?  Honestly, it might. Would you feel bad about it later?  Or would you just think they got what they deserved? Both.

Do you love another person more than you love yourself? I am having a hard time with this. I think it’s impossible to quantify love.  I mean, do I love myself MORE or LESS than my kids or my husband? I don’t know. But I do know I love myself, but more or less than others? I don’t know. And if you do, are you okay with that?  Or does it scare you too much?

Which concerns you more – what other people think of you, or what you think of yourself? Geez, ask the tough questions why don’t you??  I think I worry more about what I think of myself these days, but before I had kids I was much more of the what other people think of me camp. Which do you cultivate more – Your appearance?  Or your soul? I have two kids…obviously my appearance doesn’t come first! heh

Do you see other people for who they are, or what they can offer you? Who they are, definitely.

Do you think before you speak? Not always, but I am better than I used to be! Do you think before you act?  Moreso than thinking before I speak! hehe Or do you act on impulse and worry about apologies later? I don’t act on impulse a lot.

Do you learn from your mistakes? I like to think that I do.  Wait, mistakes? I don’t make mistakes!! Do you own them?  Sadly, yes. Do you forgive yourself for making them?  I’ll let you know.

Do you forgive others for THEIR mistakes? Pretty sure this one requires a shrink to answer. Really forgive them?  Do you forget? Forgetting is usually the easy part.

How hard do you work to present a happy image of yourself to the world?  Before I was diagnosed with melanoma, I think I worked really hard at presenting a happy, successful image of myself.  Now that things have changed, I am much more accepting of my flaws and troubles. Why do you do that?  I’m sure it comes from always trying to make my dad proud of me or something like that . 🙂

Do you dwell on the past? Or keep your eye on the future? Future…and the present. I try not to go back to the past. In fact, I have a pretty selective memory of the past.

Are you too scared of change? Or not scared enough? I’m not scared of change, I embrace change.  As a kid, I used to change around the stuff in the kitchen cabinets, much to my mother’s dismay! I don’t think change is something to be afraid of.

Do you roll with the punches? Yes. I am a believer in things happening for a reason, for the most part. I like to think I have a rather healthy outlook of life being a combination of fate and choice. But for things outside of my control, my mantra is currently It Is What It Is

Are you interested in travel, culture, history?  Yes, I am.  I would love to travel to so many different places!  I find different cultures very interesting. Are you open to new things – even other points of view? Yes. New things and points of view are what keep life interesting.

Does it make you angry when other people don’t agree with you? It only makes me angry when they can’t see another point of view or have their minds closed off to other opinions. Confused?  Curious? Yes, it makes me curious to why they hold so fiercely to something.

Are you the life of the party?  Nope. Pretty much suck in social situations. If you are, is it because you need to be the center of attention?  I do enjoy being the center of attention for a little while, but since I suck at being outgoingly social, I rarely am. Or just because it’s fun?

Do you have something to prove?  If so, what?  That I’m good. That I matter.  That my life has been worthwhile.

When life doesn’t go your way, do you do something to change it?  Yes. I hate it when people complain about things not going their way and don’t do something about it!! Or do you just accept the hand you’ve been dealt?  Do you give up, or do you pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and try again? Try again. And Again. And again.

Does taking chances scare you, or exhilarate you? If by chances you mean getting down to 1 mile to E on my gas tank, yeah, that’s kind of fun.  But if we are talking about jumping out of an airplane, not so much.  Of course, other things would vary. Picking up the family and moving away and starting over = exhilarating.  The reality of taking that chance SCARY. So, to answer, both.

Do you see a positive attitude as a strength, or a weakness?  I think having a positive attitude is very important, but I don’t think it’s the answer to all of life’s questions or problems. Being positive is good; believing that positive thinking alone can fix things, especially medical issues, isn’t so good.

Are you grateful for what you have?  Absolutely. Do you appreciate the music, art, poetry, beauty, LOVE around you? I totally appreciate those things around me, but I admit, sometimes life gets in the way of appreciation. I don’t always remember to stop and appreciate the little things…Or is it all just background?

Are you a score keeper?  nope.  don’t even keep score at my kids’ soccer games!

Do you listen to people?  REALLY listen?  Not always. Or maybe I do, but I have a shitty memory, so I don’t remember the little details that are so important. Do you ask your friends, partner, children, what they REALLY think about life, love, religion, politics?  Do you ask them what they want from life, what makes them happy, what moves them?  Do you really want to know?  I DO really want to know.  Can I have them fill out a form or something so I don’t forget? 😉

Can you be quiet with someone and still feel connected to them? Absolutely.

What matters most to you in this world?  My family.  The happiness and safety and health of my boys and husband above all. What value do you add to the lives of the people you love? What value? Oh my.  Love, compassion, generosity, humor…me.

Do you have integrity?  Do you have a strong moral fiber?  Yes.  I have solid beliefs of right and wrong and try to live by those.

Think about it.  Are you proud of who you are?  I am proud of who I am, what I have accomplished, what I know I still have yet to do.  There is always room for improvement, but yes, I am proud of me.

What is REAL about you?

I want to know.

What is your character?

———

I thought maybe I would add a few other things to this who I am post…

– I don’t hover over my kids. I step in when they need me, step back when they don’t. I enjoy letting them learn things on their own, hard way or not. I encourage their independence and offer hugs when things don’t go well.  I’m sure there are people out there who think poorly of my parenting skills, but my boys are well-behaved (for others at least!), happy and healthy. I choose my battles.  I try really hard not to judge other parents – I am a big believer in doing what is right for your own family – but sometimes people just make it SO EASY to judge them!

– I’m not big on the news these days. The world continues moving with or without my input, so I choose not to subject myself to the depression that is the news. (Except for that stupid Balloon Boy thing…there are some hours of my life I can’t get back!)

– I don’t argue politics. Well, every once in a while I’ll get sucked into a debate about something, but unless I know all the facts and can really argue my point, I don’t bother.  The reason (mostly) is that the people that I would generally debate with are not going to change their minds, so it’s kind of a waste of time.  The reason to debate is to encourage people to think…I like that part, but I know that my neighbor, for example, is never going to be a fan of anything democrat, so why bother! I’m all for encouraging thought, but wasting time is a whole different matter.

– I’m human, so I do care what people think of me.  I want people to like me, I want people to SQUEEEE when they meet me, but I don’t expect it.  Low expectations so I don’t get hurt? Probably.

– I believe in a higher power, but I don’t really believe the Bible is the be-all, end-all of history; I also believe in Evolution, so that’s a bit of a conundrum. I don’t have absolute faith, but I admire people that do.  I love learning about other religions and I love people that are true believers in their faith but don’t try to convert everyone to believe their way.

– I’m not a big time blogger – my traffic here doesn’t make me money, doesn’t get me free things, doesn’t create much more than a pebble thrown in a the lake of the blogging community. I will stand up for people, but I do my best not to throw stones.  You never know when you’ll be in a predicament you never expected.

– I really despise passive-agressive behavior – if you have something to say, just say it.  If you’re not happy with what is happening with your life, change it. I believe  people should be responsible for themselves.

– I am not a perfect parent, wife, daughter or friend.  I never claimed to be, nor will I ever.  There is always room for improvement in all of those categories.  Every day I try to be better.

– I hate to inconvenience people.  I was seriously shocked at the people who have come out to help and support and take care of me during this melanoma stuff.  I am independent and honestly was taken aback at the love people seem to have for me and mine. Definitely eye-opening.

————

So there you have it…. me. Who I am.

Who are you?

{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }

Audrey at Barking Mad! October 20, 2009 at 12:40 am

I love this…really. It’s very introspective and there’s no way that kind of thing could have been left in the comments of her post. Well not unless we all left novels of comments.

I’m glad you did this. I really feel like I got to know you a little better and I like the person…a lot, that I’m getting to know.
.-= Audrey at Barking Mad!´s last [bit of blogging genius] ..Quote of the Day – Standoff Between Geronimo and I, Who Will Blink First? =-.

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Heather October 20, 2009 at 12:50 am

Wow. We are VERY similar. So I can just say “ditto” to the majority.
.-= Heather´s last [bit of blogging genius] ..I Would Have Written a Lovely Post if I Wasn’t BLOCKED =-.

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JJ October 20, 2009 at 7:47 pm

Okay, I did it. And, it was a lot of typing! I love these questions. Work your magic and link away. I am a technological idiot when it comes to linking it back to you. You know where to find me 🙂

{adding link: }

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bejewell October 21, 2009 at 7:42 pm

I could swear I left you a comment the other day, when you first posted this. Did I not?

What I said was how glad I was that you did this, that you took it seriously and I absolutely LOVED your answers. I didn’t write that post expecting anyone to answer all of the questions, it was really just a list of things I want to really KNOW about people, but rarely ask. I wanted to see what people WOULD answer, or choose not to answer, and I was looking forward to finding the commonalities, as well as the differences. We are all different and unique, but we all share some things with each other, too.

Anyway, I do SO appreciate that you did this, and that other people are sharing it. Thank you!
.-= bejewell´s last [bit of blogging genius] ..The Old Days Were Both Terrifying and Awesome =-.

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GIFT MARKET September 27, 2014 at 10:54 pm

For instance, if you’ll be giving away souvenirs to corporate clients,
you would want to choose a drive that’s not flashy with loud colors.
What you choose to give as corporate gifts will depend on who you’re giving them to and your industry (average life time value of a client not
what’s customary in your industry; don’t copy your competitors, it’s rarely a good idea).
If you regularly do business with multiple people within a department, trying to come up with multiple gift ideas
can be downright perplexing.

Reply

corporate gifts for employees September 30, 2014 at 8:50 pm

A good pair of custom socks can be worn at a formal gathering or while
taking in a ball game. In every gathering they will go to,
they can put on a quite show that he is someone responsible that mean business.
The next thing you need to do is to customize these t-shirts with
your company logo.

Reply

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