B+C+B+C+B+C: Chelsea the Type AB Panelist

Monday, September 26, 2011

Chelsea the Type AB Panelist

Do you ever just marvel at how many amazing people you run into in this great big world...
We've moved more than the average bear, and every new location brings new friends and acquaintances. There's a few duds and rotten ones, of course, but it's overwhelming to me how many wonderful, awesome, inspiring people I have the blessing of crossing paths with. I can't emphasize that enough - it's just amazing to me. The world is full of beautiful people. It's too bad it's not possible to get to know even more of them!

[deep announcer's voice] That little reflection was brought to you today in part by the Salt Lake Mother of Twins Club. [end deep announcer's voice].
I've been attending a few activities with the SLMOT. All the moms there have been great, but I'm mostly amazed at the ones who volunteer so much time and energy in organizing it all! They've got TWINS (at least one set - some have more) and they're still givinggivinggiving to the world! People who do things like this, especially when there's absolutely no tangible benefit for themselves, are just super neato.
One of these SLMOT leaders, Kris, led a lovely evening entitled New and Expectant Parents of Twins Seminar. Kris asked me to be one of the Panelists. Obviously she didn't know me very well, otherwise she would've been aware of my relative incompetence and survival-by-sheer-luck history in the mothering twins department. But the event went fabulously and I think I managed to do what I do so well - fake it. I gave my two cents (or more like two dollars), answered questions, spoke up when I felt so inclined and kept my mouth shut when I needed to (but really didn't want to.... seems like that happens quite often to me...)
But the most eye-opening aspect of this evening was my personal epiphany - I'm not as Type A as I thought I was. In fact, I'd call myself Type B, except that really has a negative connotation (laaaazzzyyy). And I'm not lazy. But I'm not half as prepared as those other panelists next to me were!

Middle panelist: Chelsea the unprepared. Bottom right: Bennett the wild runner's head (Brian had the joy of chasing around the munchkins during this seminar. And he honestly enjoyed it!) There were about 40 in attendance. Kris did an amazing job leading it all!

Sheesh - they had NOTES! And HANDOUTS! And references in their notes! And SCHEDULES! They all talked about SCHEDULES! Just that word makes me want to throw my watch out the window and run out into the woods in my pajamas and climb a tree. Not that I'm anti-scheduling/notes/preparedness..... I'm just so BAD at all of that! I've triiiieeedd to be more Type-A ish. It just doesn't work for me. It's like my right hand thumb-wrestling against my left.
Just thinking about making to-do lists gives me anxiety. Calendaring is so repressive. Meal planning is controlling. Meticulous preparedness measures in general are restrictive and soul-leeching. I JUST WANNA LIVE IMPULSIVELY. Is that so unreasonable?!
Yes, I know it is. The world would cease to turn if we didn't have a bunch of Type-A's running it.
But yet.... as I said before, I've always thought I'm a little Type A....I do tend to be a multi-tasking ambitious freakishly compulsive competitor....
So I'm glad Wikipedia says there's a Type AB personality. Cuz otherwise I'd feel so lost, not being able to be categorized.... we all have the need to feel pigeon-holed, right?
Oh well. The bright side is that I may have a lower risk of coronary heart disease than the other panelists.

5 comments:

Marilyn said...: The reason you meet so many wonderful people is that you are one of them. You look at the world as a good place with good people who inhabit it.; September 26, 2011 at 9:35 PM
Becky said...: Nice!; September 27, 2011 at 6:34 AM
Becky said...: Nice!; September 27, 2011 at 6:34 AM
debbieandstevefamily said...: Growing up, you were always ready to roll with either direction. You would choose to be the "life of the party" or do a 1000 piece puzzle by yourself. I think that is cool. Do you remember doing the needle in the haystack puzzle?; September 28, 2011 at 3:43 PM
Megan Smith said...: I like Marilyn's comment here -- I agree with that about you. Life is fun and exciting for people who make it that way!; October 2, 2011 at 7:31 AM

Quotes I want to remember

"The Lord knows our bearing capacity, both as to coping and to comprehending, and He will not give us more to bear than we can manage at the moment, though to us it may seem otherwise. Just as no temptations will come to us from which we cannot escape or which we cannot bear, we will not be given more trials than we can sustain."
- Neal A. Maxwell

"It is a fundamental truth that the responsibilities of motherhood cannot be successfully delegated. No, not to day-care centers, not to schools, not to nurseries, not to babysitters. We become enamored with men's theories such as the idea of preschool training outside the home for young children. Not only does this put added pressure on the budget, but it places young children in an environment away from mother's influence."
-Ezra Taft Benson

“Perhaps there has never been a time when we had greater need to pray and to teach our family members to pray. Prayer is a defense against temptation. It is through earnest and heartfelt prayer that we can receive the needed blessings and the support required to make our way in this sometimes difficult and challenging journey we call mortality.”
-Thomas S. Monson

“Live the gospel as conspicuously as you can. Keep the covenants your children know you have made. And bear your testimony! Don’t just assume your children will somehow get the drift of your beliefs on their own.
-Jeffrey R. Holland

"We hold in our arms the rising generation. They come to this earth with important responsibilities and great spiritual capacities. We cannot be casual in how we prepare them. Our challenge as parents and teachers is not to create a spiritual core in their souls but rather to fan the flame of their spiritual core already aglow with the fire of their premortal faith."
-Neil L. Andersen

"Certainly there are times when getting the family together to read the scriptures does not stack up as a spiritual experience worthy of a journal entry. But we must not be deterred. There are special times when the spirit of a son or daughter is just right and the power of these great scriptures goes down into their heart like fire. As we honor our Heavenly Father in our homes, He will honor our efforts."
-Neil L. Andersen

President Hinckley admonished both men and women to be nurturers. He said, ‘How much more beautiful would be the society in which we live if every father . . . and . . . mother regarded [their] children . . . as gifts from the God of heaven . . . and brought them up with true affection in the wisdom and admonition of the Lord.’ ”
-Susan W. Tanner

"Children are like trees. When they are young, their lives can be shaped and directed, usually with ever so little effort. Said the writer of Proverbs, 'Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it' (22:6). That training finds its roots in the home. There will be little of help from other sources. Do not depend on government to help in this darkening situation. Barbara Bush, wife of former U.S. president George Bush, spoke wisely: 'Your success as a family, our success as society, depends not on what happens at the White House, but on what happens inside your house.' "
-Gordon B. Hinckley

“I give counsel to husbands and wives. Pray for the love which allows you to see the good in your companion. Pray for the love that makes weaknesses and mistakes seem small. Pray for the love to make your companion’s joy your own. Pray for the love to want to lessen the load and soften the sorrows of your companion.”
-Henry B. Eyring

“Reverent behavior is not a natural tendency for most children. It is a quality that is taught by parents and leaders through example and training. But remember, if reverence is rooted in love, so is the teaching of it. Harshness in our training begets resentment, not reverence.”
-Margaret S. Lifferth

"There is no one perfect way to be a good mother. Each situation is unique. Each mother has different challenges, different skills and abilities, and certainly different children. What matters is that a mother loves her children deeply and, in keeping with the devotion she has for God and her husband, prioritizes them above all else."
- M. Russell Ballard

“As parents, we should remember that our lives may be the book from the family library which the children most treasure. Are our examples worthy of emulation? Do we live in such a way that a son or a daughter may say, ‘I want to follow my dad,’ or ‘I want to be like my mother’?”
-Thomas S. Monson

“Security for our families comes from learning self-control, avoiding the excesses of this world, and being temperate in all things.”
-Kent D. Watson

Monday, September 26, 2011

Chelsea the Type AB Panelist

5 comments:

Pageviews last month