PROLOGUE
"However divided we may feel inside ourselves, it is the sum total of our warring factions that makes us who we are, fragmented but indivisible" (Popova)
"It is life's work to reconcile ourselves to the fact that none of the things we gain by force of effort-admiration, awards, wealth, chiseled abs- ever make up for the hidden gifts we are given and inevitably lose" (Popova)
I was born in Salt Lake City on May 21, 1948 (Friday about 8:00 p.m.)
In Fact the story has it that the doctor went home for supper because I "took a long time for birth" He was called back to the hospital to assist.
I have joked to myself that maybe I was too scared to come out into this world!
Whether this is true or not, it seems to exemplify my somewhat timid/hesitant temperament, highly sensitive to environmental and internal body cues that seem to guide my moods. Also having been diagnosed with GAD (generalized anxiety disorder) I tend to over-plan and over-think. This function has its pluses and minuses, the pluses of which are helping me to establish frequent goal-setting and monitoring.
On the minus side, it leads to daily obstacles to engaging in "boring" pastimes (for example "I hate to fish".
(There is a chapter in this book themed " I never really liked myself which might go hand in hand to being oversensitive and somewhat gullible in nature. (note that I by default fear to face the environment, but once launched into it, engage easily just like Mom was.)