Thursday, November 29, 2007

Frog-kissin'

Well, I am just a little miss posty pants today, making up for the time I missed last week and the beginning of this week, I guess.
Belle of the Blog has a wonderful post today (link) about loving the unlovable. I think this also applies to people who don't appeal to you aesthetically, personality-wise, or any other -wise.
Jumping to conclusions about the love-ability or like-ability of a person based exclusively on how they look means you just might be missing out on knowing a really neat person. I've met a few people that I didn't like at first meeting. Sometimes that was based on looks, sometimes on attitude, sometimes on personality. But, if I took the time to get past that first impression and really pay attention to what the person was like (and get to know them), most of the time, I ended up liking them. I also realized that if I hadn't taken the time to get to know them, I would have missed knowing someone who could add insights I might not otherwise have had, and I would have missed knowing someone who could add, even vicariously, to my world of experiences.
That has taught me to look past the exterior of a person, and value what they really are, deep inside, over looks. I've known people who were considered ugly (not conventionally good-looking), but I thought they were just gorgeous/handsome people and they really appealed to me because they were good, kind, humorous people with a unique way of looking at the world.
And really, how many people do you personally know that have absolutely nothing worthwhile in them at all? Even my mother, who I dislike intensely and wants nothing to do with me, has her good points (I think, I wouldn't know for sure since I haven't talked to her in 9 or 10 years). I guess one of them would be that she loves my Dad (she must, they've been married for 55 years). I love her (after all, she is my mother), but that doesn't mean I have to like her as a person or that I have to deal with her on a daily basis (the fact that I'm in Minnesota and she's in Illinois helps a great deal with that). And I'll tell you what, anyone who can deal with my mother and walk away whole, can deal with anything. Dealing with her for most of my life has helped me realize that people are far from perfect, and we are all products of everything that has happened to us in our lives. Those things are not excuses for us to be asshats (ie...my mother was a bitch to me so I can be a bitch to everyone else, I was abused as a kid so I can go out and abuse others or kill and maim, etc, etc, etc). Those things are opportunities to learn and grow as people, and know that, since it happened to me, it could have happened to others, and maybe I should cut them some slack. It's funny, but people who know me and my mother have told me quite often that they don't know how I turned out as well as I did with the kind of mother I had. I just tell them that I did it to spite her (best revenge is living well when someone expects you to be miserable all your life).
So, go kiss a frog today, you never know what you'll find.

6 comments:

  1. When I met one of my closest friends several years ago, I was kinda afraid of his looks. I was only a teenager at the time, and he was four years older than me. He is now one of a few people I really trust. His "looks" are a blessing to me now, because his intelligence and unique outlook on life are what draws me to him.

    One of the main arguments used against overweight people is that we are not "physically" attractive. I always get sick of anti-fat trolls going to fat positive posts and proclaiming that they'll NEVER sleep with a fat person.

    Well, guess what buddy? I'm not asking you to screw me. I'm just asking you to show me the same dignity and respect you show other people. I'm not a target for abuse because I happen to be physically unattractive to you! And why does sex ALWAYS have to pop up in the conversation about fat acceptance? Is that all women are good for in a male's eyes? Give me a break!

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  2. Those fat-phobes who say they would never sleep with a fat chick don't even stop to think that there is no way in hell fat chick would want to sleep with them. After all, they think they are God's gift and we should be begging them to sleep with us. Give me a break, I have better taste than that.

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  3. "Well, I am just a little miss posty pants today...".
    This made me giggle Vesta.

    Again, thank you for taking the time to read my blog. Having a bit of a downer for some reason today. You really lifted my spirits!
    Kat:)

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  4. This has nothing to do with his looks but I can attest to the first impression thing being misleading. When I first met my husband on campus at college almost 20 years ago we got in a bit of a political disagreement. I walked away from that meeting literally thinking, "What a jackass!" However, he persisted, or as I like to call it "grew on me like mold". Here we are very happily married. However we still disagree about politics more than anything else.

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  5. "That has taught me to look past the exterior of a person, and value what they really are, deep inside, over looks. I've known people who were considered ugly (not conventionally good-looking), but I thought they were just gorgeous/handsome people and they really appealed to me because they were good, kind, humorous people with a unique way of looking at the world."

    I wanted to add that one of the most beautiful women I've ever met was what some would call "ugly". She was wickedly witty, smart, wise, & kind...just a glorius delightful woman all the way around.

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  6. I'm kissing as many frogs as I can!

    Frog-kissing is a far more productive and constructive activity than butt-kissing!

    I used to be heavily involved in the latter, until I learned to loVe myself, warts, Rubenesque body, and all. (I don't really have warts, but you know what I mean :)

    As for "appeal" kindness of being and a sense of humor is what makes someone attractive to me.

    Thank you for being here.

    PS Please open your comments up to non-Blogger bloggers through your comments settings. Much appreciated!

    ReplyDelete

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