What I Like About Me

The inside voice can be a cuttingly critical one at times. In the past few years there has been much to process and deal with in life and it certainly has taken its share of shots in and at my psyche for past choices made and paths followed. I believe it is important to be introspective and self-critiquing periodically in life, but it is equally important to know what one likes about oneself and one's situation and circumstances as well.

There have been no shortage of external critics and critiquers frequently eager to offer their impressions over the years and had it not been for knowing what I like about me it would have been easy enough to be submissive and conceding in accepting and being shaped by perceptions of an identity and personality not of my own design.
Part of maintaining and sustaining, as well as building and enhancing, on what is good is to focus on the positives and not the negatives. Accordingly, it's time again in life to take stock of what there is that I like about me.

I like that I value life and the living of it as an awesome adventure and an amazing journey. I experience it's abundant beauty in person by making time in my schedule every day to walk with my canine princesses and seek out what is beautiful, inspiring, or just neat in its own way. Routinely in all four seasons we have adventured together to parks, lakes, mountains, oceans and islands on highways, back roads, trail systems and bodies of water to experience a life enriched by the majesty of nature.

I like that I value everyone and believe that ALL human beings are equal in worth within humanity. I also like that I have a high sense of empathy for others and am not afraid to champion and defend under-dogs and the oppressed. I believe strongly in equality and 'Justice' and in all that is expressed and implied in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. I like that it matters to me to be inclusive with my love and appreciation for the wonder of creation that exists within every living being and thing. I like that I am quick to be a good Samaritan or to lend a helping hand to those I see in a situation of need as well. Those occasions in life bless me with the chance to put a smile on MY face for good deeds done.

I like that I am physically strong and intellectually persistent in seeking out and achieving new heights of knowledge and understanding about life and everything it comprises with every breath I take. I like that I feel passionate about unique and interesting aspects of life and its existence in community with others. I also appreciate that I am able to pursue my interests with veracity and tenacity, routinely accomplishing what I set out to discover, learn about and achieve along the way.

I like that I have a good moral compass and a non-violent disposition and nature, but also have the physical size and grey matter to avoid, deter or defend against most threats to my well-being and best interests. I like that I have a gregarious and jovial nature far more often than not and am able to laugh at myself as well as others. I also like that I have the capacity to feel and experience the whole range of human emotions through different situations and circumstances experienced as a part of living. Happy, glad, sad and mad are at times all a part of the ride and offer each their own innate lessons, virtues, benefits and blessings, in encompassing the various parts of my being.

I like that I am wise enough to know that life is about change and capable of perpetually learning how to adapt to survive and thrive through it. I like that my instincts and impulses are most often nurturing and that I feel compelled toward tenderness and protectiveness of all that is endowed with vulnerability and innocence. I also like knowing that I can and have responded appropriately and successfully in life in defusing, preventing, and resolving many dangers, threats and conflicts with confidence, competence and composure.

I like that I value music and the arts, and that I find pleasure in creating and sharing my passions and talents to please and enrich life for myself and others. I like that I feel humble about the skills and abilities I have as well, and that I am able to admire and learn from those who I discover on my journey are better or brighter at one thing or another. I like that I have come to understand with age and the plethora of insights I have enjoyed on the journey to now just how little I do know and how so very much more there is to discover, learn and come to understand still.

I like that I feel a predominant desire to be kind, considerate and respectful toward all living beings and achieve that ambition the vast majority of the days and nights in my life. Above all else, I like that I can like and love myself and sleep well at night knowing that on the whole I like the man that I am.