Good afternoon.
And, I have two photos of Eeyore, the donkey in the Winnie
The Pooh stories. Eeyore, as you may
know, comes across as a pessimistic and gloomy character who seems to have bad
things happen to him. Yet he always gets
up, so to speak, dusts himself off, and goes on with life and living.
One of the photos I have shows Eeyore with his head between
his front legs, looking back toward his tail.
The other shows him with Pooh and the caption, “Any day spent with you
is my favorite day,” spoken by Pooh.
Eeyore is described by Wikepedia as physically one of the
stronger animals of the series, and is often treated as a pack animal whenever
a plot calls for one. His house is
regularly knocked down, but he always rebuilds it. He usually expects misfortune to happen to
him, accepts it when it does and rarely even tries to prevent it. His catchphrases are "Thanks for noticin'
me" and "Ohhh-kayyy.
I can certainly relate to Eeyore. In fact, I’m sometimes referred to by that
name by my family. I suppose that’s
because I’m just not the bubbly type. I
rarely show a lot of emotion, and have been told that I sometimes come across
as angry or upset when I’m nowhere close to those emotions. I don’t know that I always have bad things
that happen to me, or that I don’t try to prevent those things from happening. But, I’ve always thought that I go on with
life and living when bad things happen, preferring to look ahead rather than
continuing to live in the past. And, as
I said, I’m nowhere near the bubbly, outgoing type. I’d much rather stand over in a corner in a
crowd or not even be there in the first place.
Even if the crowd is people I know and love, I do better when I’m on my
own, or at least separated somewhat from the crowds.
I don’t avoid crowds at all costs. I attend concerts, visit zoos, parks, and
other places where there is likely to be others gathered, and have gone on
cruises, flown commercially, and enjoyed several vacations in places where
there were crowds. At our church, I
teach classes, visit with other congregants, and enjoy my time there. But I just seem to be more relaxed and “at
home” when I’m alone or with my wife.
I know everyone is different. I know there are the personalities that seem
to relish being around others and do well at absorbing the energy that is found
in crowds. These are the ones who seem
to be those we notice right away…that when they come into a room, everyone
takes notice of their presence. I’m not
one of them. Crowds don’t feed my energy
level…I consume energy and am tired when I’ve been in a crowd for a time. I’d prefer that no one much notice that I’m there,
and let me just stand in the corner, so to speak, and observe and listen.
My friend Eeyore is on my wall of heroes. Not because of his pessimistic and gloomy
nature, but because of his resilience.
When his house is knocked down, he rebuilds it. When he’s asked to be a pack animal, he does
his job. When he loses his tail, he has
Chrisopher Robin pin it back on. And he goes
on about life and living, looking ahead rather than stewing and fretting about
the past. Blessings…
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