In Reflection

It adds up, you know. Whatever you do and where ever you spend your time adds up. It begins to naturally overflow into your thought processes, into the opinions you hold, into the way you see. It colors the world around you and it affects your judgement. It matters tremendously and it must be carefully considered. I know that of which I speak. Just the other day I told someone that she should be careful of falling prices. I knew then that I had been in Wal*Mart far too much lately.

I notice that during football season I often ask people 'how you doin' and during soccer season I use expressions like far post and 'there ya go' just as if I knew where they were going and what to do when you got to the far post. It is because I stand on the sidelines with yelling parents and I adopt the lingo. I think I would do just fine in a foreign country. I would never know what I was saying but I could parrot what I heard and before long I would be a native. I don't know what I am saying here most of the time now. This makes no difference because I never listen when I speak.

Why is this important? We wont debate me and importance, I know how that one comes out. For curiosity though ride this one out. I think it has value because if we do become what we are continuously exposed to, it makes sense to expose ourselves to stuff we admire. I have noticed, by way of example, some of my friends buy clothing or shoes simply because they like them. This is astonishing to me. In fact, it's downright vulgar. In my upbringing people who pay retail are living in direct violation with the law in survival of the fittest. One must never want something enough to pay retail. One must make note, and wait with patience for the sale price tag to go up. I will admit I will shop at 20% off sales, and 40% off sales, but my friend Valerie, the purest will never stoop below 50% and really doesn't get excited until 75% or better. Her goal is to get them to pay her to take it home. This is an admirable goal in every way. Yet, there I was in the mall and I bought a shirt that was not on sale. I mean, it was kind of. It was a buy one get on half off only the half off went to my friend who wanted to buy one. Do you hear me? I have paid full retail for a shirt. Yes, and worse, someone told me I looked HOT in it on Sunday. Do you see the erosion???? Before long I will lose my identity and become one of the capitalist has-beens. The landscape is littered with them, you know.

I have also discovered this with sighers. Now, some of you might know that I had a brother who was such a sigher that he taught our dog to sigh. I do understand that this might be a heredity thing, still I cannot be around sighers very long before I find myself sighing. Sighing as I sit, as I stand, as I listen, type, read. I have gone to the rubber band method of negative reinforcement to break myself of this dreadful habit, but I am now finding it's time to snap those who tempt me to join them in this habit. I think you can only launch a rubber band a few times at a sigher before you lose your rubber band privileges. I think I may be getting close to being there.

But wait, I am not done. Nope. I have done the unthinkable. I have become a weather predictor. Yes. I know. I too am horrified. I hope I will be a lesson to those suffering this horrible fate. I have managed to hold the line on the weather channel, but I feel it moving in to take over. I am now checking the weather and commenting on it as fascinating conversation. 'Gee, going to be cold and rainy all day. Wonder what is up with that. Why look here, it's going to rain more at the end of the week. That's just something we didn't need. It has been so wet lately. No doubt we will be wishing for the rain in July and August. Yes, I would rather have it a little chilly than too hot. Yes, you are right. It's NOT the heat, it's the humidity". My friends, there is not doubt this failing has been caused by the repeated requirement thrust upon me by my boss of shutting down church programming because we are under a tornado watch. I wish those doggone weather radios had never been invented. I find myself listening and worse yet, calling others to tell them what I hear. Oh where does the madness end???

If nothing else, learn from my failings. Run, quickly before it is too late. I once heard some seniors talk about what it's like being a senior. One gentleman said that one thing he would say was, choose now what you want to be because when you are older you will be it only more so. This is good advice. I do not want to be a sighing, weather quoting, Wal*mart ad campaign expert, retail paying, soccer mom. It's time....yes, I need to start hanging out with the kind of people in the kind of places doing the kind of things I admire. Wonder what that is?