Reflection 5...

from a 4 yr old & skeeball

"If you compare yourself with others,

you may become vain and bitter;

for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself."
From Desiderata by Max Ehrmann

I found a blog recently that made me think, once again, about the comparisons and labels we give ourselves or allow others to foist upon us. I have a friend who refers to herself as a giraffe among a herd of cows (I love her giraffeness!). Some that I know of me are:

...the smart one - not the cute one ...schizo ...sweet but weeeiiiird! ...not altogether human

...normal-ish ...a coyote among dearly domesticated hearth dogs

...Bethlehem Steel ... marshmallow

...uncivilized ...English Major ... font of useless knowledge

... f*n genius ... mixed bag ...local color

...selfish ...loyal ...the anti-hip ...black sheep ...true friend ...icy ...big bear-hearted

...talented ...lost to Heaven ...bodhisattva ...original

How many of those came from me do you s'pose?

No matter. They've all obviously stuck with me - happily or not. And it really doesn't matter - they're only the words someone used to describe what they see from where they are... a reflection if you will.

"...there is but One Existence, and that One Existance seen through different constitutions appears either as the earth, or heaven, or hell, or gods, or ghosts, or men, or demons, or world, or all these things."

Swami Vivekananda

Thanks Phin!

So...

my younger niece turned 4 years old yesterday. The party was held at a pizza carnival pavilion the likes of which put Chuck E. Cheese's to abysmal shame; which is to say the food wasn't too bad. And games and county fair rides ad nauseum to boot. After the kiddie cars, my darlin' gal didn't get past the skeeball. Had never played - was totally hooked! The absolute GLEE when she made the ball go into even the lowest scoring hole, was positively infectious. At the end of the round, when she had earned 1 ticket... OOOOooooooooooooHHHhhhhh the joyous squeeling! You would have thought she'd won the Lotto!

See, never mind that her, sister, friends, Dad and myself, had REAMS of tickets. She wasn't lookin'. It was all about her game and her achievements and the fun she was having with them.

Ever wish you were four again?