Just for the fun of it...
Most people would agree that to a greater or lesser degree, you are the product of your experiences.
Sure, there's the part of you that was 'hard wired' the moment you were conceived, but you're never going to be a great singer if you live with deaf people, are you?
Who would know?
The thing is, in my time on this planet, I've seen things most people wouldn't and in some cases couldn't and probably daren't believe.
I’m not this well travelled guy, nor am I well read. I know enough to get me by, and there are things that I still strive for.
But when all is said & done, if I was to have allowed myself to be wholly the product of the things that have taken place in my life, I might have gone insane years ago. And you fare reader, would not be reading my written excursions into the unknown and the unthinkable right now .. and before now.
To be totally honest, I don't have the faintest idea what I'm driving at and there's definitely no way that I'm ever going to share with you those events that have been the most formative in my life, be they good or bad.
For those of you that are relatively new, you might want to know a little more about me. So knock yourself out.
If there's a moral to any of this -- and I'll be damned if I know if there is -- what doesn't kill you can only make you stronger...
posted by Wayne Smallman at Tuesday, September 20, 2005
11 Comments:
"what doesn't kill you can only make you stronger..."
No. That which doesn't kill you may make you stronger (if you're the type of person who can learn from bad experiences and grow), but those things may also grind you into little pieces under their heels.
Stronger invariably means 'grow more reinforced walls' so the next thing doesn't hurt as much, but those walls that prevent the bad also prevent the good, and the thicker the walls, the more they prevent.
I used to have the philosophy you espouse. Maybe I've just been ground down too much. Maybe my walls have grown too thick to let anything through. Naaah. I still open myself up and I still get hurt.
I can very much identify with you though when you said "if I was to have allowed myself to be wholly the product of the things that have taken place in my life, I might have gone insane years ago".
I suppose I was talking from a personal standpoint, because while many people have tried to 'grind' me down, all they've achieved in doing is making me stronger each & every time.
You have to appreciate what kind of early life I've had with the surname that I have.
That sort of hobbled start tends to force you to adopt certain tactics to life that some might see as being a little mercenary...
I can only think of the woman's first name, who came into my office recently:
Vegina
I don't care how her parents pronounced it, you can just imagine what the kids at school did with that one.
I've known some corkin' names in my time.
We had a guy called Lance Boil come a lecture at our college once.
Then there's my sisters friend, Mary Christmas .. and I'm not kidding, either.
Then there was some food specialist called Peter Wreaks...
I read your All about Me article honey and it seems that you enjoy and hate things too. You seem to have positive things you like and not too many negative things.
Why did your ex girlfriends give you sideways glances for being a true Aquarian?
Wayne honey, I'm a true Aquarian too, and nobody gives me sideways glances. And I like most things you like too. Strange or what?!
If you want to strive for something in life honey, the best advice I can give you is that you will achieve your goals by working at it, and at the end I am sure you will have reached your goals.
Good luck honey, You will make the best out of life, so will I once I've realised it.
Us Aquarians should be able to with being creative, a daydreamer and a champion for different causes!
People grind me down honey but I've had to tell myself that I am better than people think I am. I am not the person who they think. I'm not just typical Katie I am a "normal" person!!!!!
Hi Katie!
"You seem to have positive things you like and not too many negative things."
I try not to dwell on the bad things too much. I find that when you do that, they tend to outnumber the good things.
"Why did your ex girlfriends give you sideways glances for being a true Aquarian?"
Largely because they're usually quite clued up on what an Aquarian should be; aloof and secretive .. apparently.
"If you want to strive for something in life honey, the best advice I can give you is that you will achieve your goals by working at it, and at the end I am sure you will have reached your goals."
My business is everything that I've wanted for myself.
Autonomy is everything.
I answer only to the tax man. And that's the way I prefer things.
"I'm not just typical Katie I am a "normal" person!!!!!"
My ex is called Katie and she was anything but regular -- I'm using the word 'regular' instead of 'normal' -- so don't worry about it, you're in good company.
If you're anything like she was, you'll have a great life...
I'm probably different to her though, in every sense of the word, I need my niche in life and want someone to nurture each other's successes and failures and support.
I am all woman, you see Wayne!
You're a lot different than your ex girlfriends took you for honey!
Eesh - after reading all the comments I had to go and reread the post to remember what I was going to say! What it comes down to - you do what you need to do in life to make you happy. It's always the debate of Nature vs Nurture - I think it's both. But we all have a mind and free will. Use that how it feels right to you; that's what brings happiness.
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