Waxing Philosophical

First, a vocabulary lesson:

Waxing - assuming a (specified) characteristic, quality, or state
Philosophical -  of or relating to philosophers or philosophy
For the purposes of this blog entry:
Philosophy -  the most basic beliefs, concepts, and attitudes of an individual or group 

O.K., do you feel much smarter now? I know I do.  Actually, I had a really hard time finding an actual definition that explained what I intended to say with this post title: Growing Thoughtful. Those words just don't have the same punch as Waxing Philosophical, so I had to make it work. 

That was a huge digression from what I wanted to say, so on with the business of writing this entry.

I was surfing Pinterest. (Of course I was surfing Pinterest. What else would I do with all this free time I have between eating bon bons and watching soap operas?) I was surfing Pinterest, and came across this quote:

 "I've learned that you can tell

alot about a person by the way (s)he

handles these three things:

a rainy day,

lost luggage,

and tangled Christmas tree lights."

                                 ~Maya Angelou 

I, obviously, had to analyze how I handle these three things.

A rainy day - That totally depends on weather, er whether, that rainy day is cold and windy or warm and sunny behind the rain. If it is cold and windy, then I am a total grump. Actually I am a total grump if it is cold and windy, forget the rainy part. I do not like to be cold, and rain just adds insult to injury. If it is a warm, sunny day, I probably handle it a lot better. Except I do not like for my shoes to get wet or for my glasses to be spotted with rain. So, I guess I am pretty finicky about rainy days. If I know it is going to rain, I will try take care of any outings before hand so I can avoid the rain.

I am not doing so well on this analysis.

Lost luggage - I have never lost luggage before, a fact for which I have actually been thankful-literally. I guess that, in and of itself, pretty much sums up how I would handle lost luggage. I would be totally worried and annoyed. I would be wondering how I was going to handle the few days I might be without my belongings. I know that I would not just shrug my shoulders and take myself to the nearest store to obtain the few things I might need to get by. I have actually considered packing in a carry-on bag the things I do not feel I could do without. Top on that list: clean underwear.

 I am starting to see a pattern here.

Tangled Christmas tree lights - I will sit down and try to untangle Christmas tree lights, until it is obviously a hopeless mess. However, the actual answer to this one is that I avoid tangled Christmas tree lights to the best of my ability.  When taking lights off the tree, I will either walk around the tree carefully forming the lights into a loop, or put one of my children on the other side so I can hand them the loop of lights, all while telling them exactly how important it is to be extremely careful while removing lights from a tree. Then, once they are off the tree, I will carefully use twisty ties around several areas of the loop in order to maintain the untangled state of said string of lights until the next time they are needed.  This works quite well, I must add.

My final analysis:

I am a planner. Plain and simple. I like to predict what will happen and avoid what I consider to be unpleasant about the situation to the best of my ability.  

I chalk that up to another wise lady who was in my life. My grandmother, Nana. I know she wasn't the first person to say it, but she was the first person I heard say it, so I always think of her in regards to this quote:

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Thank you, Ms. Angelou for the mental exercise.