I've been trying not to care what other people think about me and how other people feel. I don't know if this endeavor is selfish or liberating. If I don't care at all how other people feel, I'll end up saying all sorts of things. But the problem with ME is that when I say those sorts of things, I feel worse after. People often say "Don't keep it all inside! Express yourself!" Don't we have to be careful what we express, or at the very least, how we express it?
So here I am sitting at my desk in an office full of many other desks, all lined up side-by-side in order of employee ranking. The top guy stays in a room of his own. Then the supervisor and the guy in charge of classroom-related stuff are at the front of the room that all the rest of us stay in, and so on and so forth along the line until you find my desk, which is usually used as storage space when I'm not here. After all, I usually go to schools to work. What am I doing at my Board of Education? It's called "Spring break and I don't have that many official days off I can take." So against my will, I sit here plugging away at trying really hard to look like I'm doing something official. Does that last sentence seem too wordy to you? Well, I'm trying my best not to care what you think about it. But I do care, obviously, or I wouldn't have asked you. Moving on...
Have you ever wondered how human nature can be so similar around the world and yet the way of looking at life is so different? If there was an actual battle between nature and nurture, which would win? The way we naturally are shapes the way we react to different environments, and on occasion, our environment shapes our character. Maybe not our character- our behavior. We can even decide to change our behavior, but on the inside, we may not actually WANT TO do something because it goes against our character. However, if we repeat that behavior again and again and again and again and again and again, we may become comfortable enough with it that we decide to make it a habit. THEN our character changes. On the other hand, if we attempt to repeat the behavior that many times and get zero positive reinforcement for it, we may have even stronger resolve to do the opposite. Then again, what's positive reinforcement for one person could be punishment for another. Our nature responds to the environment we're in. Does our environment also respond to our nature? Perhaps it does. A loud obnoxious man in a bar may be welcomed with open arms...but not in a library. A shy guy in a bar may not even register in anyone's radar, unless someone else is attracted by his quiet, peaceful aura. These examples are not really about environment, though, are they? It's more about people bringing their personalities to the places they like, or don't like. Their character dictates that, as well as dictating how each one of them reacts to the other. There are, however, places where it's more (or less) acceptable to express our real character. Showing our muscles at the beach- maybe okay. Showing off muscles at a business meeting- less okay, unless it's to emphasize a point from a presentation.
That's the jam flyin' around in my head. Take it as you like. I'm sure you could easily find all sorts of loopholes in my logic. Let me know. Throw me a line. Add some comments. Let it fly!
There was one more thing I wanted to say...okay, yes, I remember now. Goodbye.
So here I am sitting at my desk in an office full of many other desks, all lined up side-by-side in order of employee ranking. The top guy stays in a room of his own. Then the supervisor and the guy in charge of classroom-related stuff are at the front of the room that all the rest of us stay in, and so on and so forth along the line until you find my desk, which is usually used as storage space when I'm not here. After all, I usually go to schools to work. What am I doing at my Board of Education? It's called "Spring break and I don't have that many official days off I can take." So against my will, I sit here plugging away at trying really hard to look like I'm doing something official. Does that last sentence seem too wordy to you? Well, I'm trying my best not to care what you think about it. But I do care, obviously, or I wouldn't have asked you. Moving on...
Have you ever wondered how human nature can be so similar around the world and yet the way of looking at life is so different? If there was an actual battle between nature and nurture, which would win? The way we naturally are shapes the way we react to different environments, and on occasion, our environment shapes our character. Maybe not our character- our behavior. We can even decide to change our behavior, but on the inside, we may not actually WANT TO do something because it goes against our character. However, if we repeat that behavior again and again and again and again and again and again, we may become comfortable enough with it that we decide to make it a habit. THEN our character changes. On the other hand, if we attempt to repeat the behavior that many times and get zero positive reinforcement for it, we may have even stronger resolve to do the opposite. Then again, what's positive reinforcement for one person could be punishment for another. Our nature responds to the environment we're in. Does our environment also respond to our nature? Perhaps it does. A loud obnoxious man in a bar may be welcomed with open arms...but not in a library. A shy guy in a bar may not even register in anyone's radar, unless someone else is attracted by his quiet, peaceful aura. These examples are not really about environment, though, are they? It's more about people bringing their personalities to the places they like, or don't like. Their character dictates that, as well as dictating how each one of them reacts to the other. There are, however, places where it's more (or less) acceptable to express our real character. Showing our muscles at the beach- maybe okay. Showing off muscles at a business meeting- less okay, unless it's to emphasize a point from a presentation.
That's the jam flyin' around in my head. Take it as you like. I'm sure you could easily find all sorts of loopholes in my logic. Let me know. Throw me a line. Add some comments. Let it fly!
There was one more thing I wanted to say...okay, yes, I remember now. Goodbye.
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