*clearing throat and stepping up to the mic*
“Let me be patient…let me be kind…

Make me unselfish…without being blind…”

*tap tap tap*  And please don’t let the razor blade cut you in the mouth. <~Ms. Smart~

Le sigh….

Told y’all I was feeling Lauryn-ish! I really love the lyrics to that song. The lines that I quoted above are ones that I silently recited to myself just this afternoon. A friend and I have been working through a guided journal together. It’s really cool because it helps you focus your writing and then gives you discussion topics. At first, I was going to work on it on my own, but then I decided that it may be more helpful if I had someone to take the journey with me.

Our exercise for this week was to list all the qualities that you’d want in an ideal partner (romantic, platonic, family, professional, etc.). I chose romantic…you know….cuz it’s February and e’rethang….lol. Here’s what I thought of (in no particular order):

• *Open

• Affectionate

• Loving

• Consistent

• Kind

• Thoughtful

• Secure

• Protective

• Responsible

• Intelligent

• Family-oriented

• Generous

• Humble

• Strong

• Balanced

• Spiritual

• Grounded

• Confident

• Honest

*while typing this I noticed that I wrote “open” and “loving” twice.  I wonder what that means.  Hmm…

Anyway, the next exercise was to describe qualities of your ideal SELF.  At first I looked back at the list and simply wrote “all of the above”.  I mean, doesn’t that sound ideal to you?

Then the “ah-ha” moment came.  You have to list the things you need to work on for yourself.  At first, I was flip and simply wrote again, “all of the above”.  After a strong o_O from my friend, I took a good look again.  On the surface, I honestly, think those things sound like me.  But then if I take  daily assessment of my character, I sometimes fall short on some of those things. 

So now, I make reminders for myself – like the lyrics at the beginning of this post.  Or in my #NDR’s on Twitter (which means New Day Resolution for those of you who were wondering – feel free to join in).  I even change my screensavers, BBM name and status frequently to remind myself of the person that I AM and want to BE.  Today, I am PATIENCE.  Tommorrow, I’ll be KIND.  I’m an only child, so I may need to focus on that UNSELFISH thing both Thursday and Friday before I master that one.