The poet Robert Burns wrote: O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!
It wad frae mony a blunder free us,
An' foolish notion:
What airs in dress an' gait wad lea'e us,
An' ev'n devotion!
(Oh would some power the gift give us, to see ourselves as others see us. ~~ Remarkably, this is from his poem “The Louse”; I hope you don’t read too much into that!)
Recently I had the rare opportunity "to see myself as others see me." I wrote a very lengthy blog explaining the details. A friend read the blog and insisted I take it down. I did (remove the blog) but I still want to share the edited, abbreviated thought.
"She can be too dominating; too talkative."
Recently I had the rare opportunity "to see myself as others see me." I wrote a very lengthy blog explaining the details. A friend read the blog and insisted I take it down. I did (remove the blog) but I still want to share the edited, abbreviated thought.
"She can be too dominating; too talkative." "I have encouraged her to be more interested in others rather than in talking about herself."
"She likes to talk a lot, probably because she doesn't have contact with family."
Truthfully, it breaks my heart that my willingness to share openly about myself, about my faith, about health and nutrition, was interpreted as "too talkative."
Hopefully, the insight received from "seeing myself as others see me" will serve me well in my new Florida environment?!?! (Yes, keep my mouth shut!!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Postscript: I've learned how to prepare a blog for later publication. Since I wrote the previous words, I received a comment on the Feb. 21st blog. Here is another observation about me:
"She likes to talk a lot, probably because she doesn't have contact with family."
Truthfully, it breaks my heart that my willingness to share openly about myself, about my faith, about health and nutrition, was interpreted as "too talkative."
Hopefully, the insight received from "seeing myself as others see me" will serve me well in my new Florida environment?!?! (Yes, keep my mouth shut!!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Postscript: I've learned how to prepare a blog for later publication. Since I wrote the previous words, I received a comment on the Feb. 21st blog. Here is another observation about me:
Anonymous said...
Lorraine,
People believe as they wish so don't take it personally when someone does not believe as you do or judge them. You promised your time to Wycliff Associates and must follow through on that obligation. You can't commit yourself to something and then resent that commitment or resent that people around you are not what you would like them to be, i.e., people sharing your beliefs. I sense defensiveness that has built up since you've been a volunteer at Wycliffe.
I have followed your blog for well over a year and enjoy your writings. I don't believe what you believe, but I respect that you are steadfast in your beliefs. Make sure you don't burn bridges with them though.
God bless.
Somebody called you dominating???? Am I misreading that? D
ReplyDelete"Yes," (dominating) but who am I to question how others view me??
ReplyDelete