What I learned on Calorie Count
Apr. 15th, 2009 07:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hkellickI still want to talk about this weekend, though the wife covers it pretty well in her entry, which is locked down. I will summarize it to say it was a good trip in and we had fun.. with K's family!
However, getting to this thing I've been thinking..
I learned alot of things from my nearly 3 years on Calorie Count. Not just about weight loss, though I learned ALOT of things about losing weight and getting healthy, but about me. I was able to put into words where I stand on some issues.
And that's what I'm going to post about.
I've learned alot about myself, about who I am and what I can offer other people. I learned to stop being ashamed of my weaknesses, of who I am, and to learn to make my strengths work for me.
One such example... I'm a limelight seeker, a classic Leo. Some people feel that's a negative trait, that I should instead to learn to be more humble, more quiet. But the fact is, I learned that once I had the limelight (and back on CC, for a bit, at least, I had *THE* limelight), I could do some pretty good things with that: I educated people, I helped them, I earned the respect and appreciation of a lot of people, some whom have become close friends. I made my strengths work for me and helped a number of people.
We all have traits like that, traits that other people judge as wrong or bad, but probably don't deserve any real moral judgment at all.
Which brings me to the next thing I learned. I learned a great deal more about.. the relativity of life.
It is my belief that there are... a handful of Universal Truths. Things that are true throughout everyone's experiences and lives, and one of those truths is that we all experience life differently. If I were to poll every 33 year old man on this site, I'd probably find a handful of people whose lives and viewpoints are similar to my own, and a vast majority of people whose lives, experiences and viewpoints are sufficiently different from my own.
There is a huge depths and breadth of experience, and emotions that can follow those experiences. In the last 30 years, people could have been married, divorced, had children, lost a child, had an abortion, been raped, been abused, been hurt, had an accident, did something they regretted or any one of.. a million other things. And each one of those things colors not just that moment in time, but all moments in time in the future that are reminiscent of a time like that.
I've learned that I'm much more able to deal with someone who has values and experiences that are at least similar to my own.
I've learned that I don't care for extremism, in any form: Extreme Religious Views, Extreme Prejudices towards others not like you, Extreme Beliefs. I believe people who tend towards extremism do so at the expense of an open-mind and an acceptance that there is Truth in all viewpoints, in all experiences.
I am a big believer in Truth, and the acknowledgment that we all have at least a handle on a little bit of Truth, even though that Truth may be colored by your own experience.
I'm also a big believer in Fairness and Equity, and I nearly always root for the underdog since, while I may believer in Fairness, life rarely does. To be fair, I should mention that whom you and I see as the underdog may be different. Pretty much most of my sociopolitical views come down to Fairness and the belief that the best sort of government helps ALL of it's citizens level the playing field so that we can all have equal chances to do the things we desire.
Ran out of steam on this. So I'm going to end it here.
However, getting to this thing I've been thinking..
I learned alot of things from my nearly 3 years on Calorie Count. Not just about weight loss, though I learned ALOT of things about losing weight and getting healthy, but about me. I was able to put into words where I stand on some issues.
And that's what I'm going to post about.
I've learned alot about myself, about who I am and what I can offer other people. I learned to stop being ashamed of my weaknesses, of who I am, and to learn to make my strengths work for me.
One such example... I'm a limelight seeker, a classic Leo. Some people feel that's a negative trait, that I should instead to learn to be more humble, more quiet. But the fact is, I learned that once I had the limelight (and back on CC, for a bit, at least, I had *THE* limelight), I could do some pretty good things with that: I educated people, I helped them, I earned the respect and appreciation of a lot of people, some whom have become close friends. I made my strengths work for me and helped a number of people.
We all have traits like that, traits that other people judge as wrong or bad, but probably don't deserve any real moral judgment at all.
Which brings me to the next thing I learned. I learned a great deal more about.. the relativity of life.
It is my belief that there are... a handful of Universal Truths. Things that are true throughout everyone's experiences and lives, and one of those truths is that we all experience life differently. If I were to poll every 33 year old man on this site, I'd probably find a handful of people whose lives and viewpoints are similar to my own, and a vast majority of people whose lives, experiences and viewpoints are sufficiently different from my own.
There is a huge depths and breadth of experience, and emotions that can follow those experiences. In the last 30 years, people could have been married, divorced, had children, lost a child, had an abortion, been raped, been abused, been hurt, had an accident, did something they regretted or any one of.. a million other things. And each one of those things colors not just that moment in time, but all moments in time in the future that are reminiscent of a time like that.
I've learned that I'm much more able to deal with someone who has values and experiences that are at least similar to my own.
I've learned that I don't care for extremism, in any form: Extreme Religious Views, Extreme Prejudices towards others not like you, Extreme Beliefs. I believe people who tend towards extremism do so at the expense of an open-mind and an acceptance that there is Truth in all viewpoints, in all experiences.
I am a big believer in Truth, and the acknowledgment that we all have at least a handle on a little bit of Truth, even though that Truth may be colored by your own experience.
I'm also a big believer in Fairness and Equity, and I nearly always root for the underdog since, while I may believer in Fairness, life rarely does. To be fair, I should mention that whom you and I see as the underdog may be different. Pretty much most of my sociopolitical views come down to Fairness and the belief that the best sort of government helps ALL of it's citizens level the playing field so that we can all have equal chances to do the things we desire.
Ran out of steam on this. So I'm going to end it here.
