Eeyore

 Good afternoon.

 As some of you may know, I have a “wall of heroes” in my office just opposite my desk.  I can see it at all times when I’m at my desk, and I receive many blessings from the photos that I have there.  Most of the photos are of people who I am honoring by placing their photos on the wall.  I have a photo of the now-former planet Pluto and one of the earth.  I also have a photo of a couple of therapy dogs that have been in my past.

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…