Cooper: 1
Me: 0
Jalapeno vs. Halapeno??!
Cooper: Will you buy some Jalapeno flavored Pringles?
Me: Sure. I will look for them the next time I go to the store.
Cooper: Make sure they are the green ones, and they say "jal-a-peno" (pronounced the ja, like Japan.)
Me: I will. They are actually called "Jalapeno." The J makes an H sound. It is a Spanish word.
Cooper: No, they are "jal-a-peno, " J as in Japan.
Me: I know it looks like that, It can be confusing. Some words that begin with a J take the sound of an H. Jalapeno is one of those words.
Cooper: Will you just get me the "jal-a-peno" with a J kind?
Me: I will get you the jalapeno kind, with an H.
Cooper: Hey mom, how bout you say halapeno, and I will say jalapeno. In your world they can be halapeno and in my world I will call them jalapeno.
I had to smile. I admit, he makes more sense than most adults most days. He caught me off guard when he said that, and I sat there for a few minutes and thought about what he had said. He was right. It didn't really matter. I knew what he meant. He knew what I meant. It wasn't as if there was confusion as to what he meant when he said jalapeno. His explanation was perfectly clear. I conceded victory.
Too often in life, we get caught up in our way being right. We assume that because we believe a certain way, and think a certain way, and view life through certain glasses that everybody sees things like we do. Why? 'Tis not so. And praise be! What a blessing it is that we don't all see jalapenos. God bless those that see halapenos.
Variety is after all the spice of life. How dreary would this life be if we all dreamed the same dreams, felt the same things, and laughed at the same jokes? I dare say, utterly dreadful. There is beauty is our asymmetry. Our distinct personalities and pesky idiosyncrasies are what keep us from being robots. Assuming that is true, and knowing boredom will kill you faster than any disease, why do we seem to disengage with those different from us? Why is welcoming the variances between people so painful? Why does it feel so good to be right? And more so, why does it feel so incredibly validating to believe they are wrong?
We are always trying to convince somebody to see the situation through our spectacles. They can't. Even if they tried to see a situation exactly as we do, they could not. It is out of the question.
Opposites attract. There is a reason for that. When you find people who introduce you to worlds and ideas you have never seen, open your hearts to them. Allow them to show you colors you did not know existed, and places you never imagined. Go. Eyes wide open. Explore the life you have never seen.
When we vacation, we pay guides to take us to places unseen and foreign to us. Do we not? Certainly. We seek out the experts that they may show us things we know nothing about. Would we not benefit by doing likewise in our daily lives?
I bore easily. Guilty. 100%. For this reason, I want to see and explore everything--even if it angers or confuses me. I would rather be madder than a hornet at someone than bored with them. I can think of nothing worse than being surrounded by people just like me. The horror!
No one to disagree.
No one to evoke emotion.
No one to point me in another direction.
No one to make me think, or question, or wonder.
No one to teach me something I don't already know.
I don't need people that see the world as I do. I live there. I want to be with people who make me think. I want people who give me reason to pause and question. I love those people. If you anger me, I thank you. At minimum, you have done more than bore me. I can tolerate almost any behavior. That said, the one thing I despise is dullness. Monotonous affinity will distance me from you faster than any other quality known to humans. It bores me. Yawn. My faculties crave opposition. As do yours. Challenge me. Enrage me. Enlighten me. Do something. Do anything. But placate, pacify, and appease me for too long and I will grow restless of your company.
"All kinds are good, except the kind that bore you." - Voltaire
We could all stand to get lost in a city we know nothing about. The desire to be right all the time, the need to belittle people who don't see things our way is tragic. It truly is. The concept of remaining only among those people who think like us, sounds nice at times, until you begin to realize you will never again glimpse a new horizon. The same view day after day soon dulls the senses. It kills that which makes us feel alive. Is it enough to exist? Not for this girl. No, sir...it is not.
Ask yourself: When was the last time you felt the wild, relentless desire to see something new? Or how about the last time you intentionally did something for the first time?
The key to experiencing life on every level is each other. Our diversity affords us the opportunity to grow. It spares us the torture of boredom. Applaud what is irregular and uncommon. Celebrate peculiarity. And, for the love of all that is sacred, let us champion, and encourage nonconformity and variety.
There is a world brimming with languages you do not speak. Learn them. Squelch the desire to be right. Give up the need to control the behavior and choices of others. The consequence of such breeds apathy and indifference to life. We will be left with--boredom, dullness, and monotony. And who wants that? Let it go. Stop believing one person must be wrong for another person to be right. 'Tis not so...
Halapeno vs. Jalapeno?
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