Brighten Your Day

One time I had an assignment handed to me in a small classroom of unmotivated students. There were a few questions, maybe a front and back on a single sheet of computer paper, meant to be completed in ten minutes or less. But I spent the whole time thinking about the first question. I answered it almost immediately, but I was struck, almost dumbfounded, at how simple it looked on paper.

All my life I had been asked similar variations of the question and each time some no-thought-necessary words would fill the answer space. This time though, while everyone else tried to be grandiose and proud, the answer was so clear to me.

We had been asked to describe ourselves, using only three verbs. An interesting and easy task for anyone who understands our language at a basic level. But it wasn't until I glanced around to see the other responses when I noticed how different they were from mine.

Singers, Snowboarders, Teachers, Dancers, they were all so specific and precise with their answers, they were so proud of these details and I just didn't get it. I was confused. Why they had described themselves with those words? It seemed odd to answer "Run" or "Cook."

So I spent a few minutes trying to think of some other way to answer, something different than what I had written down in my impatiently quick scribble, something that would sound more like the other answers; but nothing I thought of after that was right...for Me. So, I kept my answers. And ever since that ten-minute exercise, I've thought about life with a whole new mindset.

When asked what three verbs best described me, I had answered "Go. Be. Do."