Being okay with who we are.

For those people who know me, I am kind,  funny and happy. I love my family, friends, dogs, cats and most animals with four legs. I enjoy painting, sewing and creating. I love our planet,  and everything that surrounds me. My passion is to inspire and help people find their value and happiness (thus my Daily Whispers.)  I sound pretty good but believe me I am far from perfect.  For instance, at times I say really stupid things and I am extremely uncomfortable around people who are angry so I mentally check out and retreat to my happy place. When I feel revived I come forward and address the anger but sometimes that is too late for the person the conflict occurred with. Yikes, the cold hard truth is difficult to keep from deleting! haha

I have a strong personality that can I can soften with deliberate consciousness when need be.  I practice this when in a networking environment or somewhere I need to show up more as a nurturer.  When around family and friends; people who know me, I let my guard down and become myself. This just means I am a combination of all the good and bad in one. If you can't be who you are around your family then what do you do? Escape to a cave with puppies? When I am relaxed and feel safe and at peace I say what is on my mind and sometimes it can be perceived totally different than intended. I am reminded of my favorite quote:

"It's not what happens to us that effects our behavior, it is our interpretation of what happens to us that effects our behavior."

This quote is important to me because it reminds me that everyone sees life differently. We all interpret what we see in different ways and this means that I can't judge how someone sees me. I am reminded of the story of the two sons of a man in prison for armed robbery. A reporter asked each son a question. One son was a professional businessman and the other son was following his fathers footsteps. The sons did not live near each other and they were asked this question at different times. The question was, "What do you owe your life decisions to?" Both sons gave the same answer, "With a father like mine, what choice did I have?"  Both son's had the same thought but one felt he had no choice but to be his fathers son and the other decided he would do whatever he could not to end up like his father. Two viewpoints in the same family. So with that we must remember that our actions and words can be interpreted many different ways depending on who is doing the looking and listening. 

How do we all survive together in harmony?

I wish I knew the answer. I believe that if our intentions are love based then when we are misunderstood we know in our own heart we meant no harm. We then can sleep at night and feel good about ourselves. But what do we do about the pain we caused someone unintentionally? All we can we do is say we are sorry and mean it. And try to understand where the conflict came from and put it in the back of our mind to be more careful in the future with that topic. Life is messy sometimes and I don't like that gooey messy part. You would think I would be used to it by now but as I am aging I seem to be looking for my happy place more often. A cave with puppies would be ideal but I think I need to step up instead. Another day of learning.....