George's View

It's hard not to like somebody who sees something in you that nobody else has seen.

Sally Kellerman
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Hello Kate
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Do you ever get fed up with yourself? Do you ever get to the point where you are sick and tired of who you are and you don't mind if you know it? Did you ever wonder where this lump of neurotic behavior, inconsistency, irrationality , unpredictability and unorthodox foolery came from?

It's a good thing to remind ourselves every now and then that we aren't the magnetic, charismatic, invincible genius we think we are. But too much of that is a negative activity and I don't offer it as an everyday occurrence. It is not a chapter in my book "How To Win and Influence Yourself." However, a little bit of respectable humility goes a long way in this world of self-satisfied lumps of ego.

On the other hand, and more to the point of being influenced by yourself, it is always a pleasure and a necessity to be seen as better than you think you are, to have hidden virtues and qualities exposed by an outside observer and to be reminded that you are who you are and not who you used to be.

Going through the boxes here is a sad experience because I'm being reminded of who I used to be. There are reminders of people I used to know whom I will never see again, places I once worked that I will never visit again and roles I once played I will never play again. Looking at these things gives me an uncomfortable sense of loss.

But even if I had the money it would be a monstrous act of futility and foolishness to go around looking up all the people I once knew and liked and visiting all the places I once spent some time in.

I have some good friends who have been my friends for many years. We are friends because we share similar ways of looking at life and the world. In the search for truth and value we friends have found each other.
We have grown but not changed that much. And whenever a friend of mine is feeling fed up with himself I can remind him of all the good qualities that make him who he is. And when I am sick and tired of myself there will be a friend who will remind me of who I am and the values and goodness in me that I'm not looking at, a friend who will rescue me from the pit of self-disliking that I dug and jumped into..

Such a friend is George Millenbach who yesterday cut into his bedtime to talk to me as I am and not as the miserable wretch I thought I was when we began the conversation. Thank you George.

One of the best things we can do for our friends is to remind them of the sturdy statuesque and colorful herb garden qualities they have and why we love them. and allow them to do the same.

I'm not a WAS. I'm an IS.

DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never Give Up
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