Can you choose who you are?

(Thoughts while watching the 
Little Cannon River rise in all the rain!
Now it's back in its banks again.).   

What do people tell you - about you?

I was the youngest in my family.

Everyone else was bigger and smarter.   

And I rebelled when I was consistently told that I was the “strong” one.

I didn’t feel strong.

I was really scared, lots of times.

(Like when my older sister - we shared a bedroom - told me there was a bear under my bed!)   

Who was “strong”?

And I had really “strong” family members to look up to.

My parents were immigrants.

My mother was an orphan in Europe after WWI.

My father left there too.

He came here and later built up his own business.

They met while taking English classes in the U.S.

My only sibling had serious health issues that she dealt with in a brave and powerful manner.

So as a wimpy little kid I KNEW I was not the strong one.

Why do people tell you these things?

As I grew up I finally realized they were not telling me that I was strong because I really was strong.

I decided they just needed someone to be strong in their lives.

And they chose me.

And so I stopped arguing with them.

Even if they weren’t right.

So what about you?

Now I wonder what you have been told that you are?

Maybe someone said you were “lazy”... or “boring”... or “dumb”.

But it’s your choice if you believe them or not.

Here’s another choice…

It’s my choice to tell you that you are “creative”... “smart”... and “kind”.

One reason is that’s what my spiritual belief system says we are designed to be.

And if you think you’re not any of these... keep in mind why my family told me I was strong.  

Because they needed that type of person around them.

And today we all need…

And I need all these types of folks around me!

So keep in mind that I see you this way.

And just be “creative... smart... and kind” - whether you believe it or not.

And we’ll all be better off!

Thanks!

:)

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