You are YOU, and I am ME, and that is good. And that is all.

I came across a great blog post shared on Facebook this morning. You can read it here: That's Not Your Thing. For those of you that think no way are you going to open another tab and read another blog post while you are already reading this one, a quick summary is that the author talks about the little things that make people unique. The likes and dislikes and habits that make me me, and you you. She talks about how sometimes we are envious of the things that make other people unique, and how often we will try them on and see if we too, can embrace that thing (insert hobby, activity, career, parenting type, or personality trait etc. here). Many times we realize that the things of other people are simply not OUR things, but we may have a hard time accepting that. It was a very good read, and my thoughts are spawned from that (yes, spawned..I love that word. I used to refer to my boys as my spawn, heehee...but I digress).

I was thinking of things this morning after reading that post that are part of me. For example, I love to sleep. I could be happy to exist on 9-10 hours of sleep a night! But, I dislike naps. I almost always feel worse after a nap than before! I love long, hot showers where the bathroom turns into a mist of foggy steam. I love books, and coffee with yummy creamer (not ever black, mind you), and chai tea lattes (oh and Diet Pepsi though I no longer keep in the house). I have a pumpkin fetish. Not a gross fetish, so get your minds out of the gutters, but an I-love-pumpkin-desserts,-coffees,-and-seeds kind of fetish. I am a dog person, not a cat person, though I like both...just dogs more so. I will often smile at and say hello to dogs I see out and about and then smile awkwardly at their owners as if to say  "I have no intention of talking to you, but your dog is fabulous!" I could tell you just about every breed of dog there is, though we only own one currently. I love windy, cloudy, rainy, stormy and snowy days. They make me feel alive. I loathe the smell of vanilla but love the taste of it. Go figure. I used to hate Halloween, but since having kids, I kind of like it. I hate when the phone or the doorbell rings, it feels like an intrusion on my little world. Whoever invented texting has introverts in mind, because it means we can get back to you on our terms. Speaking of introverts, I read today that my personality type is known as the "extroverted introvert" which makes absolute sense to me, because I can come off as outgoing or not shy (on a good day...some days I am plain shy), and talk for hours in a group, but then I need time to recharge.  I like most kids. Go figure, since I never thought I wanted kids, and even have expressed to Barrett that other people's kids drive me nuts sometimes, but in the grand scheme of things, I like kids, and I love teens. Kids have such a great outlook on the world and such resiliency. We could learn a lot from children. Teens are just amazing to watch as they mature and grow into themselves. I love avocado and all things cheese. When I am interested in something, I will spend HOURS (or days or months) learning all I can about a subject, but there are also many, many things I am not even remotely interested in. But I may pretend...for your sake.

I dislike folding laundry with a vengeance, getting sweaty, and strong smells (yeah, yeah I know, this will bite me in the rear in nursing), even good smells...many perfumes and colognes give me migraines. I cannot stand to listen to someone chew. It is like fingernails on a chalkboard if everything else is quiet. I am not a summer person. A good, hot day is okay if I am near water to swim in. That's all. I hate being interrupted, the taste, texture and smell of celery, spiders and if my house is dirty or cluttered (I am admittedly anal about my house, but don't worry-I could not care less if yours is clean and I come visit).

A few things that I have tried on that are NOT my things. Being a vegetarian. My parents are, and I was as a kid, and lasted a month recently. I didn't cave in wanting bacon, juicy steak or cheeseburgers, I caved in when I wanted a deli turkey, cheddar and avocado sandwich. Yeah. It was good. I have wanted to be a runner girl, and even recently thought to myself, look at all the people doing marathons. The problem? I HATE running. Like HATE. H-A-T-E, okay you get it.  I started C25K (Couch to 5K) program again this year and purposely keep repeating weeks 2-3. I like the run then walk combo, and it is better exercise than not exercising at all, but the 3 minute intervals of running? I count every single second. Literally, count in my head. And I know 3 minutes at a time (even if it is numerous times) is nothing, but seriously....dislike majorly. I'd be happy to walk, or even skate in a marathon, but not run.

The point that the original article did not mention though, that I would like to bring up, is that it is okay to try on the things of others. You may find things you cast away that are simply not you (so please get rid of them, do not force it!), but you may find things you enjoy and things that you take part of and ditch the rest. I taught myself to French braid. A few years ago when I left teaching full-time, I decided to cook more. Turns out? I really enjoy cooking when I have the time. It is a way to express myself. After years of fairly healthy teeth but look-at-them-and-they-will-bleed-gums, I took up flossing. I floss daily now. Hygienists you can rest easy.  I use C25K as mentioned above to exercise 3 days a week (I do pilates, yoga, or walk the dog up the seriously steep hill we live at the bottom of 3 more days a week currently), though I have no intention of ever progressing to running an actual 5K. I don't eat much meat, probably once a day in a meal if that, but I am certainly not vegetarian.

Anyhow, the point of all points is that we are who we are. Define and embrace your things, and be adventurous enough to try other people's things on for size, but only keep what feels right for you. Besides, the world can only handle so many vegetarian, cooks-everything-from-scratch, runner girl, supermoms, or whatever it is that you often envy or wish you could be more like. You are YOU, and I am ME, and that is good. And that is all.