Have you ever done something that's counter intuitive like straighten up the house before the cleaning service comes so you won't be ashamed. I've done that, and I guess the trigger is shame because I know I don't have an obsession with cleanliness. I've also bought a few new clothes like tops and shorts for the long hot Arizona summer and put off wearing them until the season is almost over. Why do I do this? I haven't the foggiest notion. Another of my counter intuitive behaviors is not returning phone calls from friends. How do I expect to keep them as friends if I don't find out if they're alive, suffering from any serious disease, or achieving wonderful goals.
Why do I do these things? Why do you do similar things? Please play Dr. Freud and tell me why you do what you do.
Below is my linen "closet." I'm really not a slob, but this area of the house looks like a typhoon swept in and decided to stay a while and continue its work. Am I really the only person who does things like this? Tell me, please.
They say it's the little things in life that destroy marriages: he doesn't lower the toilet seat; she never listens to his work anecdotes; he eats with his fingers; she never can find her car keys. The same adage applies to self image or self concept. It's the little things that can build or destroy egos. Although my parents had baby names for me that they used at times--for example, "cookie" and "pussycat," these never morphed into appropriate adult nick names. For instance, no one in my house ever called me Jan. That would have been the most common and appropriate nickname for "Janice," but no one ever came up with it. Was it a severe lack of creativity? I don't think so. In hindsight it said more about parenting style than it did about their opinion of me. My parents ran a rather strict household. We laughed but it was either behind the parents' backs or at a time when my father decreed a joke or anecdote was funny. My point is tha...
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