Have you ever met someone that instantly charms you with their smile? Or have you ever talked to someone who has the ability to make you feel as though you're the only person in the world that matters? Have you ever ran into a stranger that instantly feels like your best friend?
Certain individuals have an overwhelming sense of presence. When they enter a room everyone looks towards them. Everyone knows who they are, and what they are all about. Every word they say is listened to with careful attention. These individuals are a rare breed, which is probably why people are drawn towards them.
But have you ever met that person who jumps into a conversation and instantly kills it with their awkward, negative comments? Or have you ever ran into that body who has the uncanny ability to ruin just about any situation? You know what I'm talking about. Those times when everyone is gung ho about going somewhere or doing something, that is, until Mr. or Mrs. Negativity chimes in.
What makes a person? Is a personality something we have a choice in? Are the talents we have and the abilities we posses objects that any one can obtain? These questions are easy ones to answer: maybe. Unfortunately, the explanation to the answers are a lot more complex than the answers themselves. Before it is possible to come to any definite or concrete solution, we need to narrow the question down to something more precise. So, I think that's what I'll do. "Are a persons talents, tastes, inclinations, and other defining attributes something that the individual has control over?"
As a child, and all through out the rest of my life, I constantly hear people saying that life is determined by attitude. Well if life is determined by attitude, then what determines our attitude? If the answer to all of our problems were really that easy, then why do most people tend to not have the right attitude? It's because attitude isn't something that is easily changed, and in my opinion it is something we have almost no control over. There are exceptions to everything, but I think for the general population our environment determines who we are and how we feel. The people and situations around us are what forces our minds to be happy or sad. Don't believe me?
I was going to write more about that topic, and I actually did write a few more paragraphs, but I decided it was boring and that I couldn't convey what I wanted to, so I deleted those paragraphs. In retrospect I probably should have kept them. I have a strange obsession with keeping everything I write. I still have conversations from AOL Instant messenger from when I was in high school. I have a journal from my mission with every single day accounted for. It's rather entertaining to me to go "hey look, this is what was going on X years ago!". I was actually just reading some of my old AIM logs, and it cracks me up to think about some of those events... Like this conversation I had with a girl named Bethany. (I have NO idea who Bethany is, I have absolutely zero memory of anyone being named Bethany....)
March 23rd, 2005:
PinkFloyd032588 (7:51:50 PM): lol yesterday we found a fridge by the mall dumpsters
PinkFloyd032588 (7:51:54 PM): so we decided wed try to take it
PinkFloyd032588 (7:52:05 PM): but then some guy saw us and was like "what the crap are you guys doing"
PinkFloyd032588 (7:52:14 PM): so we were like "we're taking this fridge"
PinkFloyd032588 (7:52:22 PM): then he asks us for what
PinkFloyd032588 (7:52:41 PM): and then my friend goes "well, to use it for whatever it is you use fridges for.... i think."
Looking back on that day, that was a pretty fun time. I don't remember most of what was going on. I just remember that my friend Steve worked at Subway in the malls food court. We decided to go visit him after the mall closed. We helped him take out a bunch of stuff to this garbage compacter thing that they throw all the trash in. While we were waiting for him to turn it on and stuff me and one of our friends saw this fridge just lying there by the dumpsters. We were thinking that we would take it to this sand/dirt hill near my house and try and ride it like a sled down the hill. It was going to be epic. I drew a visualization of what it would have looked like.
We called our other friends up and they came with a truck to pick it up, but while in the process of moving the fridge this guy who works at one of the other stores in the mall came out and was more than a little upset that we were taking his fridge. He then went on to tell us that it was broken and that the freon or whatever is inside it would leak out and kill us all and stuff. We were like "okay sir, okay. Yup. Okay. Yeah. Will do sir. Okay. Bye." Then we all ran away as fast as we could.
It's been a while since I've been around friends willing to do anything that stupid. It's probably a good thing though.
And, just for fun, here is what I was doing exactly 4 years ago. Wow, I didn't realize how long it was since I started my mission....
June 29, 2007
Today we finally did our R.C. calls, for reals It was kind of exciting but also really scary when we did it. Overall it was a real cool experience. We also went to the TRC and taught an "investigator". I actually believe the man we taught could have been an investigator. It was a real cool <exciting?> experience teaching them, or rather, him. That once again, is all that I can think about...
The R.C. refers to the call center at the MTC where you get to talk to people who are ordering Book of Mormons or Bibles or whatever else... you also call people to make sure they got their stuff. It's a pretty intimidating job at first. The TRC is the Teaching Resource Center I think... It's this place with video cameras set up so that your MTC teachers can watch you teach. You go in these little rooms that are furnished with couches and lamps and stuff just like a house would be. Then you teach a lesson to volunteers (usually BYU provo kids) who come in and act like investigators. It's as close to a real lesson as you can get.
Anyways, if you learn anything from this blog, it's that you should write stuff down. It's interesting. It's history!
I got in a debate with Cherise about something very similar. I believe we don't have control over our initial emotions, but we do have control over how we respond to them. I am a born pessimist. It's a fact of life. But I've had to train myself to not go directly to the negative in certain situations. At times, it's hard, but I find that the more I practice, the easier it becomes to see the positive. I think the "I can't change, I was born this way" attitude is what prevents people from truly changing, not that they can't change if they really wanted to. After all, this whole life is about changing and progressing so that we can one day be perfect. Why would God give us attitudes without the ability to overcome them if they're destructive?
ReplyDeletei second kandace. i think this could make a good conversation topic one day :)
ReplyDeleteInteresting topic! I share Kandance's opinion in that we may be prone to be one way and have gut reactions one way but we can change these to be however we want. We can allow our environment or situation to change them or we can choose to consciously change them ourselves.
ReplyDeleteI love how you kept all your AIM and other writings! It really is cool to look back on stuff like that and be able to reference things four, five, TEN years ago! I am encouraged to be a better journal-keeper. :)