Sunday, March 01, 2009

How do you rate?

I hate it when I come up with draft titles so I will know what is going on in the post and then I save the post in drafts so I can come back to it later and then when I do come back to it the title is ever so pathetically lame that not even I can enjoy it. That is what happened here. Also, I realized the first sentence was going to be a really long run-on, so I ran with it. You're welcome.

So, the point of that rambling is: I am aware the title of this post is lame. Also, tough beans. If I had to look at it, so do you. I'm not changing it now.

I had all intentions of this being thought provoking and insightful, but my title ruined it all. Crap. Now onto our regularly scheduled post.

In reading material for the pre-marriage classes The Guy and I are taking, I was reading about the qualities a person should strive for in themselves. The Fruits of the Spirit is what they are called among the church-going crowd, but the qualities are pretty basic, so everyone can appreciate them. They are:

Love
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Gentleness
Self-Control

Being a good girl and listening to my parents (tee hee) I, many years ago, memorized the verse these come from. I can quote them, but I never took the time to study each one and see how they applied to me or if I possessed them on any level at all. So, in front of God and country, I'm going to do so now. Don't worry, I won't do all at once. This is a three part mini series.

Love
Love can be defined as a profound and deep admiration and concern for the well-being of another person. That is a smooshing of all the definitions I found. It works for me. On a scale of 1 - 10, (1 being I love nothing and no one, 10 being I love everything and everyone without question) I would say I'm an 8. I love easily and deeply. I have great affection for people and animals -- weird people, displaced people, under dogs, etc. I love and accept love. Maybe I find it harder to accept love at times, but I still love. All in all, I'm okay with this one.

Joy
Joy is defined as delight, happiness, or satisfaction. I like definitions. It makes things tidy and we're all on the same page then. Joy is a tougher one for me. On the whole, I'm a fairly happy person, however, I have a sarcastic edge and an occasional negative look on some things. I would say I score a 7 on joy. Sometimes I'm an 8, sometimes I'm a 6, so I'm going to go for the medium number. I want to be a positive person and find joy in everyday things. I am working towards that.

Peace
Inner peace is what I think of on this one. Let's look it up. Oh, I like this one. Definition.com call peace the "freedom of the mind from annoyance, distraction, anxiety, an obsession." I say "HA!" Not that I am doubting the definition. I mean, hence the name of the site, right? But in my life -- my mind -- peace is... noticeably absent. Even when I am calm, look calm, seem calm, I am decidedly not so calm. I think a 5.5 is my rating on this one. I am working towards peace. I am meditating on a semi-kind of-regular basis. I am praying more often. I am doing relaxing things to open my mind and let some of that tension out. However, rather than the opening being akin to a window, my opening is more similar to a balloon. I am slowly letting the mouth of the balloon open just enough to let the littlest squeak of air out into the world. Peace is not my strong point.

(to be continued)

5 comments:

  1. Oh, peace is totally not my strong point either. I cannot sit still-- I'm always fidgeting and wiggling or just pushing my toes against the floor-- anything. I worry about everything. I could go on and on, but I won't. :) All that to say, I relate.

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  2. if it helps, I was actually attracted to this post because of its title! I was excited for more self-introspection!! and part of the way through the post, I got worried that I wouldn't get to do that... so thanks for the ideas! :)

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  3. OH, I like this one!

    So, obviously, The Guy brings out the love in you, as do the troubled souls you meet. That really is sweet.

    So (said the bear who asks lots of questions), what brings the joy to you life, causing you to "rejoice"? Seems to me it's the 1 - 5 grace points you note (almost) each day. Maybe more.

    If you can be at peace in a world as crazy as ours, either your crazy, or you are "attached" to something smarter than the average bear. Or average person, for that matter.

    Waitin' for parts 2 and 3.

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  4. I've always felt that joy and happiness are not at all the same thing--that you can be unhappy and yet feel joy. Joy is something more permanent than happy: "happy" comes from the same word as "perhaps" or "happen" so it's associated with chance.

    Maybe you could try to rate the joy scale thinking less of happiness and more of the other two: delight and satisfaction.

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  5. Ky makes a really good point.

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Crap monkies say "what?"