Up For The Challenge

I've encountered many people in life who question & challenge everything they hear. I am NOT one of them. If you tell me a breaking news story, or an improbable fact, odds are I'm going to believe you. Some might consider it naïve, but I prefer to think of it as sort of romantic, or fairytale-like. I think there's a charm about taking something for face value, instead of automatically discrediting it or feeling compelled to research it.

I was in a position last summer, though, to consider something I had taken for face value since I was young: Superstition. More specifically, walking under a ladder.

I was on my way to a Patriots game, and needed to stop at the atm. My beau pulled over nearby one and I intended to make a quick trip in and out. Propped up against the building that I needed to enter {between me and the door} was a ladder. Without even thinking, I skirted around the ladder and into the door to the bank. While withdrawing some cash though, it occurred to me: was I even superstitious anymore?

It was something I grew up knowing, yet had never challenged. And in fact, I hadn't ever considered it in years. I resolved that on my way back out, I would walk under the ladder, defiant of my young beliefs. I did so without casualty, and didn't suffer any notable bad luck.

It was a silly happening, but it made me wonder: What other beliefs have I been hanging on to?

Who, Me?

People with tattoos have always fascinated me. I feel like in order to do something so permanent, you have to really, really know yourself well. I think a part of my problem is that I could never make up my mind enough to get one. I seriously don't even like stickers for that fact that you have to choose where to put it, and stick {pun intended} to that decision. I had a whole collection of stickers when I was little that were still in the package.

I'm very much a people pleaser, so when I'm in a relationship with someone, it's like I lose a little bit of myself. I'm so focused on what they're doing and what they want, unless I'm with someone really disciplined, nobody is focusing on me.

I'm also a big believer in horoscopes. {I'll pause here for an eye roll...} I know some people don't even know their sign, and some people take it too far in the other direction and won't date certain people because of their sign. I lie somewhere between the extremes. I do check my horoscope daily, and feel encouraged when it aligns with my life at the moment. There was a time a few years back, where I felt so in tune with myself and everything around me. Every day my horoscope reading was accurate. My sign, Leo, is notorious for being able to sense what people around them want, and what will win them affection, attention, etc. For this reason, I'm very intuitive around people, especially those I'm close to, but I'm also in danger of forgoing what I want and losing myself.

I suppose it's a matter of finding the balance, but it makes me wonder why some people know themselves better than others. Does it come down to the way we are raised? Does having a boyfriend or girlfriend with a strong influence over us at a young age do it? Or is it something that just kind of thing that ebbs and flows over a lifetime?