“Hey there! How are you?!?”
“I’m fine. How are you?”
I’m not really, but who is. I was feeling supremely unfine in so many different ways, but it seemed like neither the time nor place for sharing. We chatted for a few minutes.
“No one is like you. No one has your tenacity.”
While tempted to write that statement off as mere flattery – I mean, they called because they wanted something – um, I have to admit they’re right.
Several months ago someone else told me, “No one else can do what you do.”
Um, really? I just did it, thereby proving it can be done. They seemed almost critical that I hadn’t done it before. Conditions change, we learn more … and ask successful people how many failures they had along the way. Failures … perceived or real … or they might call them learning experiences.
My sis and I have a phrase we utter from time to time. It makes us laugh because we’re fans of irony and it’s the complete opposite of what we believe.
I tried. I failed. Lesson: Never try.
I tried. I failed. Lesson: Never try. #oknotreally #jklol #failyourwaytosuccess #learnyourwaytosuccess ~Jennifer Grashel Share on X
Success is a relative term anyway, and I’m not sure what it means anymore. I think contentment is a more desirable thing.
Anyway, all this talk of tenacity means I can’t stop thinking about Tenacious D.
Insert sound of crickets chirping.
Tenacious D, a band known for their #facemeltingawesomeness. I’d link to a video or two, but I’d have to slap a big giant language warning on it.
So just call me Tenacious J, and we’ll leave it at that.
I keep realizing more and more how different and unique we all are. I mean, duh, of course and it’s pretty much a cliché. But do you really get how much everyone else’s world is not like your own? How much what’s easy for you is not easy for everyone else? How much what’s second nature and obvious to you is anything but to others?
I’d quote some scripture, but you really need to go read the whole 1 Corinthians 12 chapter.
After the tenacity discussion the other day, I finally made it out of the house and to the toy section in Target. I was shopping for a budding scientist who also likes art. (Sounds familiar, perhaps we’re related.) The young man is having a Bob Ross-themed birthday party. A Bob Ross-themed birthday party! I was nowhere near that cool at the same age.
Right after placing my selection in the cart, I heard a mild crashing, cluttering sound nearby. I didn’t think much of it, assuming someone knocked a couple boxes over, no big deal. But then at the end of the aisle I encountered another shopper also looking around to see what fell. On top of a display of I think it was Lego boxes sat a security camera that had fallen from upon high. As in from the ceiling. This particular Target is fairly new, so perhaps the camera installation contractor didn’t quite fulfill their obligations or maybe there’s some manufacturing defect. My fellow shopper picked up the unit to return it to a store employee while I zoomed in and snapped this pic of a similar camera way, way up on the ceiling.
I’m not sure if this was a sign … a metaphor … coincidence … or Godincidence. I’ll leave that discussion for another day.
Once I had all components of the birthday gift gathered, I assessed my wrapping options. I debated bag versus wrapping paper, as a gift bag seems like a cop out. But … the cost of a gift bag versus a roll of paper is roughly equivalent, although the paper would last for multiple occasions. But once I found this gem, it was an easy decision.
A Toy Story 4 gift bag with Forky sporting googly eyes! Birthday boy dressed as Forky for Halloween. Last summer his great-grandma took him to see the movie and then to the store. He selected two toys, one being a Forky. The other? Benson.
Haven’t seen the movie? Don’t know / don’t remember who Benson is? (By the way, yes, Forky is a sentient spork. Say “sentient spork” five times fast.) Benson is the villainous ventriloquist dummy. Reportedly birthday boy likes to place Benson in random places around the house to surprise / scare his parents.
Because that’s how the cool kids roll. Stay cool, my friends.
