This is my first time replying to a blog. I normally only read them. I’m still not sure what the difference between blogging and emailing to more than one person except that all can be seen on the Internet in a blog. Both your story and Christopher’s story reminded me of when I was in third grade (1960). I had caught lice and the medicine didn’t seem to be working so my father shaved my head. For a while I was allowed to wear a hat (not normally allowed in school). Once day the nurse called me into her office. You know that gut feeling? Well, when she asked me, “How’s your head?” instead of “How are you?” – I had that gut feelinig. I couldn’t answer and in less than a minute, without any another word, she grabbed my hat off my head and threw my hat on the top of her cabinet. I couldn’t react – I was frozen. She told me I could go back to class. I didn’t, couldn’t move. She took my hand and led me back to class. When she opened the door, some of my classmates gasped. I heard someone say, “She’s not a girl, she’s a boy!” I was already shy, having trouble relearning English, but I went even further into my shell. It took a very long time to get over those kind of experiences but now people that meet me can’t even imagine that I was ever shy.

It is great to see your blog. Your stories on mindset shift made me remember something that happened to me when I was a little girl. I had this dance teacher, and I was taking lessons from her during lunch break. I missed a couple of lessons, and when I came back, I couldn’t keep up with the other students. So the teacher declared in front of the whole batch that I was a horrible dancer. And sure enough, I decided that since the teacher said so, it must be true! I dropped out of the dance class and never had the courage to dance again in school or college. But now that I think about it, I feel that it is not necessarily true! And that possibility has liberated me very much. Thank you for that!

Cheers,
Gayathri.

Great to see you extending yourself past what you believed you were capable of

It’s funny you should share the story about the lady in the cookie store. Just yesterday, I was sharing with my wife a similar story. A friend of mine was going through cancer treatment and lost all of her hair. We encouraged her to go to a bar with us and have some fun. She was apprehensive, but decided to get past it.

In the bar, I noticed a fella staring at her bald head. He kept staring and as he stated, my blood pressure began to rise. Finally, I decided I was going to have a talk with him. I approached, asked a stern question with superlatives, and he said “I was watching your friend because my sister recently died of cancer and I miss her” WOW! I stuffed my whole boot in my mouth. Apologized for my perception and bought him a beer and introduced him to Cathy.

That night, I learned there just might be more to the story than what we perceive to be.

Looking forward to more blogs Ed!!

Christopher