Twenty: A Cheat Sheet

Today's blog post is inspired by the lovely Zoey - fellow blogger and runner. 

Masks by me during Art & Soul - Theme: Emotions.
The mask depicts that which is portrayed to the outside world...and what is going on underneath.
Inspired by Picasso's Weeping Woman.

1. Just when you think you've got it all sorted out and you're out of those woods and pretty much home and hosed, that's the exact moment the next curveball comes in from left of field. Don't get too cocky thinking you're a star player. Think of yourself as a rookie who still has a lot to learn.

2. If I make a big deal of something that means it's important to me. If it's important to me then perhaps you need to stop and find out why, rather than dismiss it.

3. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery I think...and flattery is not necessarily a bad thing. I'm realising that if I am truly inspired by a person I tend to emulate them to a point. I used to think it was a character weakness in me. Now I just see it as exploring and learning. Things normally balance out in the end.

4. Contrary wise, if there's something about a person that really goes against your grain, perhaps you are recognising a similar characteristic in yourself that need addressing. I think about this all the time when the temptation to criticise arises.

5. Like Zoey I too have a love/hate relationship with Daylight Savings. Honestly, I'm thinking of moving to Queensland simply to get away from it!

6. Sometimes the times I am dreading become the times where I receive the most healing. I was dreading last night's theme and art project. (see pictures above) I did the inside first and at great speed - almost in the same fashion as Olive Penderghast changing her wardrobe in Easy A ...

...which was good because it got some of that shit out and it lessened somewhat; so much so that when I did some boxing this morning it was intense physically, not emotionally.

7. I'm aware that you know that when I'm quiet something is wrong. Don't ask. If I'm quiet, I really don't want to talk about it. I know who I can come to when it gets too much.

8. I have a serious relationship with Doritos; so much so that my son bought me a whole large packet for me as a birthday gift.

9. It takes me a while to accept that in reality, I am running twice as far as people twice my height. Therefore the 8km I run is the equivalent of 16km for you. I'm running the 15km Run for The Kids, so energy wise I'm actually running 30km. 

10. So what's your excuse?

11. Passive/Aggressive responses leave me feeling as though I have nowhere to move. I think a Passive/Aggressive response is the cowards way out...because the giver of a passive/aggressive response can choose between Victor and Victim depending on how I respond. That's not nice. 

12. It takes me a looooong time to work through things. Like, a loooooooooooooooooooooooooong time. I'm still working through a lifetime's worth of growing up Pentecostal. So yes, if something happened in 1984 that affected me, I'm still processing.

13. I can't believe I wasted so much money on therapy when a long run does exactly the same thing and it's free. 

14. I find that people who make frequent references to me being short are the ones who are having the most difficulty with it. Constant joking references are really not a way of communicating to me that you're cool with it. Want to show me you're cool with it? Just get on with it! Do you make constant references to your best friend being bald or red haired or over-weight or gay? NO! Then why my height?

15. Blogging has highlighted to me the fact that one day I may have to eat my own words. 

16. I've also realised through blogging that everything I experience as a person with a physical difference is just part of the human condition...every comment readers make helps me see that I am not alone in my feelings. 

17. Sometimes I am so close to believing in nothing that it scares me.

18. Movies about Super Heroes, Heroes and disasters are my go-to when life is just generally crap. 

19. Having said that though....I am really partial towards bad guys. Loki in particular. 

20. I can't stand it when people talk about "The Terrible Twos/Threes" and "The Teenage Years" like they're something to be absolutely dreaded. I hated it when people would look at my children and say, "Just you wait till they're teenagers." I never dreaded any part of their growing up. Never. I loved every part of it. The twos/threes and the teen years were times where they all entered into a phase of knowing themselves, exploring independence, having autonomous thought. As a parent I found it all fascinating and delightful and I totally enjoyed getting to know these beautiful souls as people in their own right. 

So, there's my 20.

Do you have 20 to share?