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| A beautiful scene from my car window early this morning on Preston Road in Plano, Texas. |
Last week while choosing some green peppers at the grocery store, I met a woman and we had a conversation. I know, I can meet people in all kinds of situations. :-) The first thoughts we exchanged were concerning the sorry state of the green peppers. The topic took a turn and we were discussing the Plano and the Dallas area. I had remarked that our house was on the market. She said she and her husband were planning on moving in three years to Arkansas where "people are more like us".
She then went on to say that she and her husband had been warned before they moved here two years ago to not move to Dallas, that "the people in Dallas were so rude". She then complained about how rude people are around here.
An old parable came to mind later when I thought of this woman:
A man traveling by train gets off in an unfamiliar city and sees a blind beggar leaning against the old brick train station. The traveler asks the blind beggar, "What are the people like in this town?" The old beggar answered his question with another question, "What are they like where you live?" The traveler answered, "They are unfriendly, rude and mean". The beggar told the traveler that the town had the same kind of people, they too were unfriendly, rude and mean". A couple of days passed and once again, a stranger traveling by train gets off at this stop, sees the blind beggar by the station and asks him the same question as the other traveler two days previously. "What are the people like in this town?", he asked the beggar. Once again the beggar answered the man's question with another question, "What are the people like where you live?" The traveler answered that the people in his town were friendly, kind and would help one another." The beggar told the traveler that the people in the town were friendly, kind and would help one another".
A couple of years ago I had read a version of this parable in a Holistic magazine I pick up at Whole Foods and I think of this parable often. The woman I met over the green peppers at the grocery story reminds me of one of the travelers stopping at the train station. That old cliche about attitude is quite true, attitude may not be everything but a good one sure helps with having a happier and more loving life.
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| An antique festival held in my hometown of Clinton Tennessee in May of 2010 |
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| My hometown ... Market Street in Clinton, Tennessee Spring 2010 |
All my life I had lived in East Tennessee, mostly in Clinton, Tennessee. Clint called not long after we had married, I was visiting my mother when I received the call. He had received a call about a new job in Dallas and asked me, "How would you like to live in Dallas?" I mumbled something like where ever we had to go would be fine concerning the job market ..." After our conversation I hung up the phone and cried.
How on earth could I live in such a farway and backward place as Dallas, Texas! Visions of tumbleweed and ghost towns filled my head. Thoughts of glamour and the tv show Dallas never entered my mind. As for the people of Dallas, Texas, it would not have been much different if Clint had said we were moving to Mars.
One July 4th weekend over seven years ago, we drive to Plano, Texas with the temperature here being 104 degrees that day. As we crossed the state line coming in to Texas I remarked I had never seen such horns on cows. Clint gave me my first lesson, Texas 101, those were longhorns!
The photo at the top of this blog was one of the first scenes as we drove down Preston Road on my first visit to Plano and Texas. I thought, "Wow, this place is beautiful, I think I could live here!" Clint and I agree, living here has been one of the most rewarding and wonderful times of our lives. I have grown more here the past seven years than all my decades before! You are allowed to "be" in Texas.
What are the people like where I lived in Clinton, Tennessee? They are friendly, kind and will help one another. What are the people like in this town of Plano, Texas? They are friendly, kind and will help one another.
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| Clinton, Tennessee, where the people are friendly, kind and help one another. |
6 comments:
People in Texas are friendly and kind. They are also rude and uncaring. They are whatever we want them to be. In short, they are like people everywhere. Great post!
Clint's right. This is a wonderful post, Cindy. It's an excellent life lesson. If you go looking for trouble you are bound to find it. If you forget what you think you know about a place and go there with the expectation of encountering friendly, helpful people, you will surely find them. It's the difference between creating a model of scarcity or a model of abundance. Either one can become a self fulfilling prophecy. You and Clint are part of the solution!
Cindy you are so right about attitude! It makes all the difference! I'm terrible for letting my attitude get the better of me especially about where I live in Dublin because sometimes people are so rude and nasty, but then I have to remind myself (and my boyfriend does too) that I should be nice no matter how people are to me and it will make life a lot easier to deal with. It's easy to be nasty, but it takes effort and patience to be nice.
There are all kinds of people all over the world! The important thing, I've found is to surround yourself with loving caring people who make you want to be a better person. (That's my experience anyway)
Your home town looks beautiful, I've always wanted to visit Tennessee!
Yes, it is a great post. You know what...I think it depends on your own person.
If you are kind, friendly and will help one another you will have the feedback.
In Germany they say: "How you shout into the forest, it will sound out"
Sunny greetings
Nova
It is reassuring to know when you can rely on its friends in need. Very nice pictures.
Greetings Sabine
I love this post :) It's 100% trueabout attitude and if we can remember that - it will take us far. People here are rude...JUST KIDDING! :) LOL! (but I am on the east coast you know!!!!)
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