I have this amazing friend who lights up a room whenever she enters it. Strangers are drawn to her. Joy just seems to ooze out of every one of her pores. I’d love to be like that.
But when I pointed that out to her recently, she got a serious look on her face. She told me that she does get sad and worried and anxious just like everyone else. Well, of course that’s true. As a matter of fact, she’s been through quite a lot in her life. I’m sure her joyful outlook isn’t always as effortless as it looks.
I guess it’s just simpler to imagine her as Little Mary Sunshine than to scratch the surface and actually have to deal with her humanity. That’s my fault entirely. And I’m sure she gets it a lot.
I can kind of, sort of, relate. All through school I was a straight A student. Because of that, no one considered it to be a particularly great achievement when I brought home that perfect report card. It was almost like a physical feature. Barb has brown hair and blue eyes and she gets straight A’s.
This, to put it mildly, frustrated the hell out of me. I mean, thank you for acknowledging its existence at least, but just because I got straight A’s doesn’t mean that I hadn’t put considerable effort into it. Even if you have a high IQ, getting good grades takes organization and planning and memorization and, well, work.
Just because someone consistently demonstrates an outstanding quality or ability doesn’t make it less remarkable. Try to recognize the effort behind those wonderful things in your loved ones that you’ve come to take for granted. Even if they seem to come naturally, they’re quite often hard-won. No one should be discounted, even, and perhaps especially, if it’s for something wonderful.
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