August 6, 2012
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stream
my little boat gets bashed against the rocks and i think that it’s because i’m in a rocky stream but the stream is wide my boat doesn’t need to be near the rocks at all if i would just put down the oars i would gently sailI was talking to my girls just yesterday about how, after all these years of being sisters, they still don’t know how to deal with each others’ quirks. How instead of working around the stuff that makes them most annoyed by the other person, they plow right through. They poke at the rocks instead of gliding around. I might have said something about how doing the same thing over and over again and getting the same result might be a sign that they should try something different. I thought I was being pretty smart.
And after a sleepless night of worrying about everything, I have come to the conclusion that they didn’t come by this trait by accident. I’ve spent a good chunk of my summer doing something I should have been ok doing but instead felt like I was crashing against rocks. The whole time I was focusing on the rocks. Like the rocks were going to go away if I kept looking at them and poking at them. When all I had to do was probably push away from the rocks and let the current take me. I think.
I hope someday I can be smarter when I’m actually in the boat.
Comments (31)
I like your little poem. Although it is short there is much to think about as one reads it.
Learning to pick one’s battles is one of life’s great lessons. Learning to enjoy and enhance our strengths and worry less about our weaknesses is another.
Being a perfectionist is a hard and thankless job.
@vexations - i like short poems. long ones take too much thinking.
@Roadkill_Spatula - good thing i have a lot more life, since i have so much learning to do.
@PrisonerxOfxLove - you think i’m a perfectionist??
beautiful post.
Doesn’t matter when clarity comes, but when it does, isn’t it a blessing? The book is helping?
@songoftheheart - i wish i’d have taken the time to read the book when i needed it. just finished. clarity is a blessing but it would be so much nicer not to make the same foolish mistakes again and again.
@be_the_rain - where the water flows. water is the answer to everything isn’t it.
@promisesunshine - Focusing on faults and shortcomings is part of the perfectionist’s MO. Another way of looking at it is majoring in the minor.
@PrisonerxOfxLove - I read something about Basin F and Jefferson Proving Grounds this morning and wondered if you’d write about them. Or something like that. (old book I was reading)
@PrisonerxOfxLove - you’re phunny! such a perfect comment
ah, my dear, you are such a good writer. loved this. t.u. for posting…
Having girls is a never ending state of confusion.
@Bricker59 - hugs, friend.
@Bels_Kaylar - you’re very kind.
Our blind spots generally seem to have a curious staying power. My parents have grown tremendously as people and as a couple, but there are still fights they have which I could recite from the opening lines.
I guess I should be thankful being an only child in that I don’t have to worry about offending anyone with my quirks
@lanney - and this would surprise them. we do the same thing.
@godfatherofgreenbay - did i say quirks are offensive? quirks are what they are. i have a couple or dozen. then again, i suppose i’m offensive at least some of the time.
Some people avoid mentioning the strength of others and distract themselves by mentioning the weaknesses.
Sometimes inferiority complex is overcome by pointing out the mistakes of others.
Sometimes it is easier to focus on other’s foibles than to focus on your own foibles.
It is easier to read other people’s blogs than to make your own blog. Thanks for the posting.
@PPhilip - i have no idea what you meant by the comment. but i know i have foibles enough to go around. i could run a sale. thanks for the visit. i haven’t seen you in a while.
Sometimes it is better to do the ” do as I say and not as I do” point of view.
That is the way it goes sometimes - we can recognize the problem when we are not in the middle of it. My mother used to worry that my sisters and I would never get along. Funny how growing up makes a big difference.
@murisopsis - it’s frustrating. good news on the sister front, though. glad to know they will probably grow up and get along. some of the time. they went to the pool together today and apparently want to do it again tomorrow. so it can’t be all bad.
@buddy71 - much more like that that they will do the reverse. i don’t exactly inspire obedience. (but they are good girls. nonetheless.)
Insightful. Steering around the rocks sounds like a good plan. For me, for you, for all the weebles in wobbleville.
@distractedbyzombies - why are the rocks so attractive? they draw me like a magnet. like a moth to flame. it’s like i can’t help engage. oops. a little melodramatic this afternoon.
@promisesunshine - It’s more reassuring to focus on outer rocks rather than inner rocks? But really, you seem like you have an unusually good grip on navigating the outer rocks. So.
@distractedbyzombies - i think i’m just quieter when i’m in the rocks.
@promisesunshine - I’m much less quiet when I’m on the rocks. Especially with a salted rim.
@distractedbyzombies - salted rim rocks would perk me right up. rum and coke ain’t so bad neither.
@promisesunshine - eeeeyaa. no rum for me. not after the great rum incident of 1997.
@distractedbyzombies - 1997? were you even legal in 1997? ooh. shouldn’t ask that on national tv.
@promisesunshine - Um. Almost!
@distractedbyzombies -