Honesty

I was reading about enthusiasm on The Tiny Buddha and enjoyed it tremendously. I wrote a response that I have always had a lot of enthusiasms and been criticized for it through the years. I have learned not to be to enthusiastic in the morning, for example, before people have their first cup of coffee or to leave my dancing shoes in the closet if people around me are moping around. Again, I just assumed that there was something wrong about me that I would get so many people mad at me for just feeling good and bouncing around like Tigger in Winnie the Pooh.

The time I spent in Korea taught me that there is nothing wrong with me and in all honestly there is nothing wrong with those who criticized me. The problem as I see it was that I accepted their complaints about me as valid. Not so, not by a long shot. I am lucky. A friend of mine said I probably feel good because I have two spleens which is true. Whatever the reason, even when I am feeling down, I never feel deep down in the basement, below the earth, gray-black down. Sure, I get depressed and can write myself out of it. I never take medication. I don't have to. I have other problems, but I feel good most of the time.

Years ago, I had some stomach cramps that just would not stop, so I was given medication that made me feel as if I was crawling on the ground. My husband at the time said that I was living the life most of the rest of the earth was feeling. I threw the meds away and never looked back. I found out later that I had Celiac Disease. I stopped eating gluten and no longer have the stomach cramps.

I am not saying that all of us should have enthusiasms. I am just saying that we should not accept criticisms of other people. Now, when people make complaints about me in some way, I consider the source and am more objective about the content of the statement. One time, a friend complained that I drank too much coffee; but I love coffee and it keeps me from eating food. I would rather drink a cup of coffee any day than eat food which puts the pounds on me easily. I am drinking coffee as I write this. I looked up the studies of the effects of coffee and found nothing to justify lessening my intake. He said I should drink coffee at such places as Burger King instead of paying high prices at Starbucks. I rarely buy coffee at Starbucks anymore since I got my Keurig coffee maker. Now when he talks about coffee, I turn off. I love my friend but he has a blind spot regarding coffee. The same goes for saccharine. He was convinced it was horrendous for one's health. Current studies show it is not. I just say nothing but I use the product. He is enthusiastic about his prejudices. I don't have to accept his, but I don't "correct" his either.