I am unique

We all have little things about us that make us unique. Here is a partial list of things that make me who I am.

I have an irrational fear of jellyfish. I can blame my parents for this one. When I was a child we would go down to the Gulf of Mexico and fish. They convinced me that jellyfish were lurking about ready to jump out and attack me. To this day I still think that my picture is on the 10 most wanted list of jellyfish.

When I am with you I will tell you where curbs are, steps up and down and any other sort of visual clues you might need. This comes from having a visually impaired child who does not pay attention to where she is going.

If I need to go anywhere I will tell you 100 times where I will be and how to reach me. This comes from my childhood. The rule in my house was if I had to be reached only one phone call should be made. Of course, this was before cell phones. Heck our phone was attached to the wall and you had to actually dial the numbers.

I am borderline CDO. This is like OCD, but the letters are in the correct order! I come by this naturally as my family tends to be this way. I have a family member that keeps their pantry in alphabetical order!

Bizarre situations and things occur to me. Several years ago the hubby and I were at the movies while Maddy was at school one day. She had a seizure at school and our neighbor figured out where we might be. She went to the movie theater and made such a fuss that they did a break in announcement during the movie. It is a bit odd to be watching a movie and have it interrupted with your name in the announcement.

Many of my friends call me an annoying optimist. I suppose it is true as if I have a glass with water in it one of two things will occur. I will be so happy to have the glass and water I will share it before even checking if it is full or not. The other thing that could happen is the water is poured out and the glass will be filled with yummy beer! I don't think of myself as an optimist I made a decision a long time ago to focus on the positive and not let the negative affect me. Life is much better this way.

I can turn pretty much anything into an education or learning moment. Part of this comes from a conversation that I had with my Mother many, many years ago. She told me that if you learn from something then it is not a mistake, but a chance at a learning experience. I think of this often and try to remember to let Maddy have experiences and not just book lessons.

Overall I am very happy with myself and embrace my unique qualities. Life is much better when we decide to love ourselves and not be so dang critical. So whatever you are beating yourself up about, stop it and embrace your inner unique!