Sanguine Tenacious Tidings

Army: "To Be All That You Can BE"

From the War Chest...

“Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.” ―Malcolm Forbes. Agree? Disagree? How do you feel?

This strikes me as a brain twister:

Overvalue what they are not=Think their faults are larger than they really are?

Undervalue what they are=Are afraid to take credit for their talents?

Where I live there is a constant critical attitude toward the public. For instance: while I was in the doctors office my husband waited in the waiting room. Keith told me this later.: An older gentleman came in pushing an elderly woman in a wheel chair. The receptionist handed him paper work to fill out. He became agitated and was yelling that he had filled out the same paper work when he was in before. It was probably true as I also filled out a paper that had to list anyone they could call in the family to inform about your health information. I believe the office staff are attempting to fix some paper work problems they may have incurred by doing follow up on every visit. The older gentleman may have been under extra stress and took the problem as a criticism. Or a strange scenario, the office staff want to cause problems in the elderly. Anyway, I wonder if people sometimes fill out paper work incompletely or inaccurately if asked to do it to often.

I saw a media spot about a boy who helped someone just last week. On camera he said, "I'm not a hero, I just did what needed to be done." People who think like that would rather not shine a light on their own talents. Sometimes people don't know all that they can do until they try or find themselves in a situation that is life changing.

I have met lots of people in life who simply don't respond to suggestions about how to make something better. They would rather believe they can't really do something. Horseback riders are to often a good example of this situation. The answer to an instructor, "I tried but my horse does not respond to the things you are teaching us to do," is way up there as weird. I've seen instructors climb on said horses and the animal does respond properly. I also found this in other places. Sometimes it is better not to try to fix something if someone is set in their ways and won't believe it can be fixed.

Being precise or honest about feelings or talent or experience can even bring down criticism from the public so people avoid these subjects.