Pride in spite of myself
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This was written for The Red Dress Club‘s memoir writing project, Remembe(red). Concrit is always welcome, and thanks for taking the time!
Tell the story (without any trivialization or modesty) of something in your life that you are proud of.
Word limit: 600 My count: 434
Blink. Blink.
The cursor flashes at me, the vast expanse of white a seemingly endless field.
Blink.
I flash back to Doogie Howser and Carrie Bradshaw, plunking happily away on their computers at the end of each 24-minute glimpse into their lives. They never seem to be at a loss for words, do they? Every event in their respective lives can easily be summed up on one witty sentence, even if they do type it out and then delete the last bit, and reword it. The final chuckle for the episode.
When I'm in a job interview, and am inevitably asked what I think my weaknesses are, I always have the same answer.
Slight chuckle, and a shift in my chair. Lean forward a little more, so it's like I'm sharing a big secret. “Well, it's a challenge for me if I'm not interested in a task. If it's something I'm excited to do, or that interests me, I will get it done, but if it's something I don't really want to do, I really need to buckle down and concentrate. The good part of that, though, is that I pay extra attention to detail when that happens, because I want to get it done right the first time!” Sit back in the chair (just a tad, don't want to look disinterested!) and smile sweetly.
It's true. I'm an avoider. If there's something I don't want to deal with or think about, I put it to the side; paying bills, folding laundry, some of the assorted administrative tasks at work that aren't design… I'll put them off, apparently in the hopes that the Chore Fairy will come along and take care of it for me.
But I'm doing this right now, and I'm proud of me for doing it!
When the prompt was posted, my heart broke a little that I couldn't come up with something I was really, truly proud of. That it took me this long to come up with something. That's not to say I'm not in awe of and completely overwhelmed with pride when I look at Max. And I know that I've overcome a bunch of crap with the kidney stuff, but I didn't want to use those, my “go to” issues. I was determined to be proud of something else!
And now I am.
A task I didn't care to do, this prompt, and yet here I am, at 6:27 on Tuesday morning, writing my words while waiting for the coffee machine to beep. You know, maybe this commitment to writing thing isn't the worst thing I've ever done.
I'm the same way. If I don't really want to do a task I let it sit until the absolute last minute. I always think it will take me forever and inevitably it takes but a moment from my day 🙂
Well put. Good for you for doing it! I did mine, but I kind of didn't want to post it. I think I felt like I had other stuff to say, but then I didn't know what I wanted to say, so I just posted it. That make any sense? Yeah, not really here, either! Oh, one tiny typo – 'I out it to the side' (re: bills, etc.) I think you meant put. I'm anal that way, sorry! 😉
Hello, fellow avoider! I, too, hate doing tasks that I'm not interested in. That's why I'm giving you a virtual handshake now for accomplishing this. I know very well how it feels to be forced to do something you don't want to do!
I am SO PROUD OF YOU.
It's a perfect thing to be proud of, to know that you didn't come to it lightly, your "go to issues" (me too, I could easily have written about infertility).
I also love how you wrote it, like we were just sitting and talking. HI FIVE to you, girl!
I'm a procastinator. Guilty! Lol. I still can't think of what I would want to write for this prompt. I like what you picked because it's hard to power through and do something you really don't want to do. Good job!
I'm totally the same! Love the bit about Doogie Howser and Carrie Bradshaw, especially since I'm reading through posts because I can't figure out how to end mine 😉
Haha…Oh…i know what you mean. Sometimes it is easier to not do something that you either know you cannot finish quickly or cannot finish well. I put those things off for.ev.er. Ugh…
We never hear from folks who enjoy doing tasks that do not hold their interest. Why is that?
This is a great post because of its honesty. Not to mention the fact that I don't actually believe that anyone runs to do the things that they aren't interesting in doing. So we can all relate to it!
Ha ha! I was the same. Couldn't think of anything. I even asked my daughter for help. She concurred that I haven't done anything to be proud of. Nice, huh? Great job getting it done. I'm proud of you!
I'm glad your keeping your commitment to writing 🙂
i love that youre proud of your commitment, Im proud of you too! thank you for writing this ad linking up, its a real accomplishment that people who "want" to write and never do will be inspired by 🙂