Laryngitis

I am a verbal person. There are just no two ways to look at it. If I don't talk, I feel as if our bright, happy world is becoming a miserable chasm of doom. I have heard that suffering can teach you a lot. Well, it's true. Laryngitis definately is teaching me that if I was ever in a prisoner of war camp and given the choice to keep either my eyeballs or my tongue, I would know how to respond.

I also have experienced the realization that I talk A LOT. I am a somewhat compulsive talker. Even when I can screech out no more than a dull wheezing whisper, I talk. When I sound like the offspring of a goose and a donkey with whooping cough, I talk. When no noise at all is sailing forth, I talk.

I actually had a lovely whispering conversation with somebody last night. It was quite enjoyeable as it had the air of being a highly mysterious and secretive exchange of cladnestine topics although the subject matter rested largely on the technicalities of indoor soccer and the indigestibility of poutine.

A funny thing I have observed as a result of my infirmity is that if you neglect to preface your greeting with "I lost my voice, that's why I'm whispering," whoever you speak with automatically drops their voice to a barely audible undertone, similar to your own.

I have also observed that laryngitis has outragiously bad timing. Case example: onset of laryngitis a few tender hours before the interview I was rather anxious to appear professional in. No matter how you look at, larygitis simply does not come across as professional.

All in all, even the worst things can teach you a lesson. I have learned mine, and I dare say I'm ready to talk again. When that happens, I am going to stand on my deck and sing O Canada at the top of my oh so ready lungs. 

Strengths and Weaknesses

In class this week, I watched a video of a motivational speaker. I know, I know. All this hype, and an hour later, where does it leave you?
He was  challenging people to live to their fullest potential, and to live in a way that allows them to enjoy their life. Ok, pretty standard.
This was his main point: we all have strengths, and we all have weaknesses. Duh. We all know that.
But wait for his definition of strengths and weaknesses:
Weaknesses are not necessarily things you are bad at. Yeah that's right. NO, he said that a weakness is anything you do that makes you feel weak after you do it. Maybe you work with people, you have outstanding customer service skills, and everybody admires you for the way you handle difficult situations. But if you leave those situations feeling weaker than when you began, that's a weakness.  He told a story of a swimmer who won numerous international titles and was extremely successful, yet hated swimming. Swimming was his weakness.
What about strengths then? That’s right, a strength is not necessarily something you are good at. Maybe you’ve killed every plant you’ve ever tried to grow but you love gardening. That’s a strength. Maybe you’ve never had a chance to act, but the idea of acting excites you. That would be a strength.
If we want to enjoy our lives, we need to focus on our strengths. Think of the most successful person you know. Just stop and think about them for a minute. Does that person spend the majority of their time on their strengths or their weaknesses? Their strengths! Successful, happy people focus on their strengths.

No matter what your job is, find out what strengths you can bring to it. If you focus on your strengths, you will succeed so well at what you do, your boss will have to re-write your job description to fit YOU!  

So, how are we supposed to know what our strengths and weakness are? Here’s what you need to do: for the next week, carry a little pad of paper and a pen with you wherever you go. Whenever you are looking ahead to an activity, and you get a little shiver of excitement about it, write it down. If you are in the middle of something, and you realize the time is speeding by, and you wish it could go on for longer, write it down. When you finish an activity and feel all pumped up and happy after, write it down. At the end of the week, look through the list you’ve written. These are your strengths. Then spend part of each day focusing on those things. If you realize you just love jogging, make sure you do that every day. If you found out you thrive on little social interactions, make sure you take time for those in your schedule. Whatever it is, capitalize on your strengths. You will be rewarded.

Well now what about your weaknesses? Obviously, you can’t just stop doing everything you dislike. We still need to go to work, take classes, look after our families, and take out the garbage. The point is, if there is a choice between book-keeping and customer service, choose the job you’ll thrive at, even if it doesn’t pay as well. Use your time wisely, and try to spend more time on the things you know are your strengths. If you are doing what you love, you will do such a good job, you will become far more successful than you could otherwise.

And my own thought is, yes there are some things you dislike, AND are terrible at. Sometimes it’s awfully good for our character to make ourselves do things that fit this description. But just take a look at what percentage of your time is spent on those things. I don’t believe it should be the majority.

So, take that pad of paper out and write stuff down. Even if it’s silly. Who knows, maybe you’ll be a motivational speaker some day!

Three Wishes

Mary: How much was your ipod?

Me: Uh...a hundred bucks.

Mary: When I grow up I have three wishes. My first wish is I want a be-a-utiful man to marry. My second wish is I want a hundred dollars. My third wish is I want sixteen horses and three kitties.

Me: Oh.What do you want a hundred dollars for?

Mary: To buy an ipod!

Grade 2

I can offically state that my mother is the most patient women on the face of this earth. After spending ONE day on ONE subject with ONE child, I stand in awe of this woman who does ALL subjects with FIVE kids every single day, and has taught grade 2 EIGHT times in the last fourteen years. Granted, I was helping Mary. And she was doing math. It was entertaining, certainly. Every so often when it just became too much to handle, she would politely excuse herself, explain her purpose in the diversion, and run to the couch, fly upside down and stand on her head for the duration of the following question. She said it made her think better. Once, we got to a 9 x 8 question. I cringed inwardly, fairly confident she wouldn't know how to multiply bigger numbers like that. All of a sudden, she started singing this multiplication song....all the way to 72 and I love you-oo (and you love me-ee, let's gooo tooogether......). (I think she made that part up.) Either way, she knew the answer, and that's more than I could have said for my seven-year old self. Finally, by some miracle, we reached the end of 3 or so hours of tough multiplication, graphs, written quetsions, and fill in the blanks. There was only one miniscule question left. 4 x 7 to be exact. She hadn't learnt her "4's" yet, and I opted to leave that one and wait until Mum could explain it to her. She refused. So I did my best. I mean I couldn't just give the answer away....that's no way to teach children. She wimpered. She wallowed. Then she wailed. Quite powerfully. I was not quite sure what to do. She called me a cruel and unfeeling sister for leaving her incapable of an answer so easily within her reach and witholding from her the one answer which would give her the peace of mind gained only from being utterly finished one's schoolwork. (paraphrased. But she did say cruel). I stopped trying to make up songs to teach multiplication and told her the answer. Problem solved. Mathematics done for the day. Thank heaven mother is back tomorrow.