I am penny-wise and pound foolish. I take nearly everything personally. I am simultaneously too hard on myself (not enough grace) and too lenient (not enough discipline to finish things and take risks). Oh yeah, I am so over-the-top risk averse. I judge people all the time. I don’t place enough value on my time. I want everyone to know of the super hard degree with honors that I earned because I secretly feel I peaked years ago and didn’t live up to my potential. I don’t listen very well. I need both my introvert-space and my extrovert opportunities. I have to be right, pretty much always. I am both insecure and conceited. I have cheated on things in the past and will cheat on them in the future. I don’t donate enough time or money to others. I expect you to read my mind. I get mad when you expect the same. I have a few ugly prejudices. I have a really triggering experience of a lifetime of anxiety every time I feel I should pick up a check. I have a hard time going to a concert or party sober, or after a really hard day for that matter. I give in to schadenfreude more than I like to admit. I suck in so many ways.
But, I am a pretty nice guy. I proactively help people. I am a great hugger. Overall, I am a pretty good dad, son, husband, friend, neighbor, citizen. I’m a great cook. I’m smart, curious, and love learning about anything. I connect people and maintain more than my share of many relationships (not altruistically of course!) I have an encyclopedic memory for random facts. I can talk about virtually any subject. I proactively share my experiences related to restaurants, hikes, music, life lessons, art, travel, and so many other things. I am funnier than #$%#@%. I (can be) a great listener. I usually leave things better than I found them. I mow and leaf blow and all that kind of stuff beyond my property lines.
We don’t all drive sports cars and eat at fancy restaurants and sip cocktails by the pool in Hawaii, at least not all the time. Our kids don’t always get on the deans list. Not all of us have kids even! We have receding hairlines and lifetime battles with love handles. We are not always getting promotions and awards. We have really difficult relationships. We have bad gas some days. We waste money and make financially poor decisions driven by emotions. We unfollow so many people on Facebook. We want to quit social media but either don’t know how or fear we can’t (especially if we are young, doubly especially for females). Some days when we get back to where we started off in the morning, we call it a day and declare victory. Other days we are not that successful. We write down things on our to-do list that we have already done just so we can cross them off and feel a sense of accomplishment.
But we love and share and pick each other up. We get up every morning, what a defiant statement of courage and optimism. We volunteer and help neighbors and strangers. We raise children and love our pets. Dogs are better than people by the way. We strive to be better. We have been an inspiration to someone somewhere. Someone out there right now is better off because of you, because of who you are and what your actions are. Love is contagious and defies the laws of physics. Light always drives out the darkness. We are light. Human to human is light. Human to computer or AI or social media is not. Touch and voice and eye contact will never become obsolete.
