Loved for Being Me
I was told yesterday that I looked like Elizabeth Shue.
By our waiter.
The one who last fall Ben and Brandon accused of flirting with me for a tip.
Suspicious.
Most of us profess that we want to be loved "for ourselves." Loving someone because of quirkiness rather than in spite of it is the highest ideal, according to our romantic comedies. Compliments from strangers, while nice, make us suspicious.
But is that good in the long run? Many things we call "quirks" are actually habits of selfishness or psychosis. They will eventually either cease to be lovable or just disappear. What we really want is to be loved, period. When there is no "because," there is no danger of it disappearing. Perhaps love should be the "because" for everything else.
In any case, general love for people should lead us to be gracious in our dealings, even with suspicious strangers. In today's example, my ignorance surfaced when I asked who Elizabeth Shue was. That kind of destroyed the moment. He got an adequate tip, but probably not what he was going for.
By our waiter.
The one who last fall Ben and Brandon accused of flirting with me for a tip.
Suspicious.
Most of us profess that we want to be loved "for ourselves." Loving someone because of quirkiness rather than in spite of it is the highest ideal, according to our romantic comedies. Compliments from strangers, while nice, make us suspicious.
But is that good in the long run? Many things we call "quirks" are actually habits of selfishness or psychosis. They will eventually either cease to be lovable or just disappear. What we really want is to be loved, period. When there is no "because," there is no danger of it disappearing. Perhaps love should be the "because" for everything else.
In any case, general love for people should lead us to be gracious in our dealings, even with suspicious strangers. In today's example, my ignorance surfaced when I asked who Elizabeth Shue was. That kind of destroyed the moment. He got an adequate tip, but probably not what he was going for.
***
Student paper quote of the day: "Marion believes you should [weight] train as much as possible, but put heart into it or else it becomes a choir."
Out of the mouths of freshmen.
posted by Lynn @ 6:40 AM
7 Comments:
I'll bet it's times like that you can be thankful that not all principles of the Sermon on the Mount translate into categorical imperatives! I mean, can you imagine what it would be like if Jesus meant, "Whoever asks you your name, give him your phone number also. And whoever asks you to go out for dinner, go also with him to the movies"?
Gheekheeheehee.
Hee-hee-hee.
This is the part where I point out that both Brandon and you were telling me to accept compliments more graciously. Pot? Kettle? I say ebony.
The YOU that you are gets our vote and much more. With love and just being ourselves. Smile.
Don't judge us all by our less mentally present classmates.
http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ch/1995/ch950407.gif
a picture for your students
sigh. PICTURE
After reading your blog this thought entered my mind.
The junior high is a mess now that your mom is gone.
I know that has little to do with what you wrote about but I remember getting thoughts like that when I was a freshman in college.
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