Day Two: Something You Love about Yourself

Oh, there are so many things! 

I want to state immediately that I am more conceited than I need to be, and that I habitually remind people of how awesome I am.  I'm not joking when I do this.

Some people think egotism is a cover for insecurity, and maybe it is ... for some people.  Not me, though.  I'm honest with myself about my own deficiencies and, as it happens, I often broadcast these as well.  But no cats in this house are going to tell me on a daily basis that I'm wonderful, so I just have to tell myself.

ONE thing I love about myself is my ability to find humor in stupid situations.  In this case, the word stupid is standing in for many adjectives, including stressful, angry, humiliating, and more in the same vein. 

When I am 100% in the midst of any of these crises, I do not think ANYTHING is funny. 

But sometimes--and always at the worst possible moment; typical--the evil part of my brain starts to narrate current events, and it starts plotting a rough draft for how I'm going to tell people about it later.  And then, even though THIS IS NO TIME FOR LAUGHTER, I start to get the Church Giggles, and then I have to look at the floor.

If I didn't have this ability, I would not ... well, I guess I just wouldn't be living, is what.  Because I've had a pretty charmed life, it's true, but I've also had to walk through some poo-storms every once in a while.

Just this past week, I had to snake the toilet at 2:00am because I'd tried to flush too much cat poop at one time.  Believe me when I tell you that toilet clogs are not funny business, and that toilet clogs when one has to pee really badly are even less humorous.  But as I was fighting with the plumbing, fending off cat turds and trying not to splash poo water in my face, my evil twin composed the most beautifully foul-mouthed comedic diatribe that I had to take a break so I could write it all down.*  And when I finally gave up and went to bed, I was able to sleep, because I'd had my mad, and then I had my laugh and I let it go.

I FOR SURE could not be a teacher if I couldn't laugh at myself every single day. Can you imagine?

I would literally not be able to teach: almost half my lesson plans for my speech and theater classes revolve around something stupid that has happened to me.

Not to mention that stupid stuff CONTINUES to happen, at a fairly high rate, mind you, when I'm in the classroom. If I couldn't find the ridiculous side of student attitudes or state testing or educational bureacracy (which, let's face it, is just a fancypants synonymous term for ridiculous, or mocking required), I'd have torn the school down with my bare hands YEARS ago.

This blog would consist of nothing but posts titled "What Is Making Me Mad Today?"  Because EVERYTHING makes me mad.  It's just that, by the time it gets to you, I've turned it from something stupid into something slightly less stupid.

And in doing so, I can turn MYSELF from something awesome into something slightly MORE awesome.



*I will not post it here, in deference to my mother's delicate eyes.