Curiosity

Can’t Tell

Garth Beyer

And the worst thing is, you can’t tell.

You can’t tell that the person beside you may be heart-broken. You can’t tell if they are hurting all over. You can’t tell if they’re struggling to smile. You can’t tell if they just want to break down and cry. And the sad thing is; they wish you could tell.

You can’t tell if you’re bored or hungry, you can’t tell if it’s love you are actually feeling, you can’t tell what someones first judgement of you is, you can’t tell if that person will ever come around. And the sad thing is: you wish you could tell.

There’s a lot of things in life that you just can’t tell.

I’ve always said, it’s not that everyone is fighting their own battles.

It’s that they are losing them.

 

Stay Positive & Give People A Chance

Garth E. Beyer

“Free Shrugs”

“Free Shrugs”

Garth Beyer

Two hours of epicness can’t even compare to the rest of my week’s excitement even if it were compounded. I decided to take a sign, write “free shrugs” on it, and go walk all over downtown Madison and campus.

The responses I got were incredible and worth sharing:

1 person asked if I read Reddit … I shrugged

5 people (4 homeless and 1 foreign) asked me what a “shrug” was

400+ is the number of times I shrugged, to say I got my workout in for the day is an understatement

3 is the number of groups of girls that I first held the sign up to that said “free shrugs,” then pointed to them and flipped the sign over where I had written “free hugs”

3 people flat-out stared at me and had no response

150+ people smiled and laughed

50+ completely ignored me and desperately avoided making eye contact

100+ people shrugged back

1 person I caught taking a picture of me

2 is the number of people I sat next to who had about 13 other signs indicative that they were protesting at the Capitol. I joined them and might have thrown off the whole bashful mood they set.

9 restaurant goers had me creeping up to the glass and knocking on it to get their attention

It was incredible how so many people were trying to sneak a glance at what my sign said instead of just reading it, and how so many people after sneaking that glance, tried so hard to hold in their laughs and act like they didn’t see a thing. Why do they feel so uncomfortable reading a sign someone is holding or making eye contact? A lot of people missed out on a free laugh today, but let’s not forget how many didn’t.

 

Stay Positive & Suggestions For What To Do Next?

Garth E. Beyer

Lessons From The Cat In The Box

Garth Beyer

Clover is my cat. Although, I feel it may be more accurate to call her a little kitty despite the fact she is nearly 4 years old and after being with me, has only 3 out of 9 of her lives left. She’s small, cute, has half a tail (rescue kitty), and if you don’t remember, she has a big impact on my writing:( A Writer’s Crashing “Train of Thought” and Why It’s Excellent )

I have a cat story for you.

If your a cat owner, you have put a cat in a box. If you’re not, you now share the same curiosity as those who have as to what will the cat do if put it in a box? Let’s make the box a tall box, and the cat Clover.

Clover got put into a tall box and wouldn’t jump out. Contrary to belief, cats do have fear and it is this fear of the unknown and inability to prepare for the landing that Clover wouldn’t jump out. Cat’s, being very smart, choose not to take the risk. Admiringly, nor do they choose to just stay in the box. They will, just as Clover, put their paws on the rim of the box to try and peer over it to calculate the jump out of the box. It just so happened, as Clover had her paws on the edge, the box began to tip and it is almost as if the box was trying to push her out. Clover chose to try and prepare for the jump, only to find in that preparation that everything fell into place. (Pardon the pun)

See, we can learn many things from life, from each other and even from animals if we only observe.

Lessons Learned:

  • It’s okay to fear, just don’t let it immobilize you.
  • The unknown is not something to jump into, but to fall forward into.
  • If you prepare to try, you gain a forward leaning posture that tips the box, coincidentally pushing you forward.
  • Nothing is impossible, it’s just the angle at which you look at things.
  • Determination is unstoppable.
  • Fear of remaining in the box is worse than the fear of what’s out of it.
  • Freedom of any kind is worth losing 1 of 9 lives for.

Stay Positive & Luck Will Always Be On Your Side, As Long As You Try

Garth E. Beyer

Other posts about preparation (non-cat related): Prep To Destroy, Preparation and Expectation Reversed, Safety First: The Art Of Preparation