a story

Give people a fact or an idea and you enlighten their minds; tell them a story and you touch their souls.~Hasidic Proverb
Here’s one of mine:

Have you ever been teased? Are you a teaser or a teasee? I am the latter. I moved from Michigan to New Jersey before kindergarten. I was shy then, and my parents had saddled me with a tricky first name. It is rare that someone can read my name and pronounce it correctly. So when my teacher called for Lizel, the kids had a good place to start with the teasing.

At recess on the black-top, a smart little boy, Joe S, dubbed me as 'Lysol' coupled with pretending to pump me like an aerosol can…pat/pssst, pat/pssst. Lining up to return from recess, Joe asked where I lived before NJ. I replied, "Battle Creek." Joe asked, "Did you fight in a ditch?" I remember not knowing what he meant. Battle and ditch had no meaning to me. I was embarrassed but I smiled along.

As an adult I remember Joe fondly, but as five-year-old I grinned and beared it. I tell this story to say that early on I learned to laugh at myself. It felt nicer to be a good sport than to hide or pout.

This idea goes along with this quote: "Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be," by Grandma Moses. We have a choice of reactions we can have when something unpleasant happens. We can find a way to smile or give in to misery. I'll choose smiling over misery every time.