I was at an Iowa Hospital Association board event last week in southern Iowa. They have this annual golf outing … the only things that stress me out worse than golf are live birds and the state fair, and so I decided to go look for Amish people. I had this recurring nightmare as a child about Amish people. I think it was the lack of electricity and modern appliances … but it’s important that we face our fears and so, I and my friend Laurie went in search. We found a lot of good and very nice Amish in the country around Drakesfield, Iowa and bought stuff from them. On Ragbrai as well, every year the Amish have a homemade ice cream and pie stand. I think I conquered my fears of the Old Order Christian Lifestyles. I don’t understand them, but that’s all right.
I spend a lot time trying to figure out what other’s people perspectives are and where their motivation comes from. Maybe instead of trying too hard to win the game, I should just sit back and enjoy. I did this yesterday as I volunteered at the Iowa Craft Brew tent at the state fair (yes, I know, it was stress inducing but I pushed and persevered. Yay me.) I spent the day talking to people about different beers, talking about the Iowa towns where they were brewed, and engaged with the crowd. It was just enjoyable. More please.
Someone commented on the size of my calves last week. It wasn’t exactly a compliment -- it was a statement. So I didn’t know what to say. “Thank you” wasn’t appropriate … It’s like when I lost a lot of weight and people said that “you’ve lost a lot of weight”. Yep. My friend Ronda told me a couple of weeks ago that I lacked the “please” in a sentence when I was asking for something. I told her it was implied - she disagreed. I guess the point is, when communicating, it’s best to clarify everything, as the receiver of the message may not imply the same.
In the waning days of summer; relax and smell the roses, confront your fears and don’t assume anything. And drink some good beer and eat pie. Dog days tangential thoughts.
