Smart Can Get Cute but…
When my
girls were younger and wanted to do nothing but play in make-up, I would often
tell them that smart can always get cute but cute can’t always get smart.
I may have
to make that into a bumper sticker and ride around a mall parking lot. Lately,
I have been meeting too many people who spend a lot of time on their outside,
but far too little on the inside.
I know
people who can tell you the latest fashion, hair and make-up trends, but they
know absolutely nothing and care even less about taking care if their insides.
There was a
time when a dentist would not bleach teeth without taking care of them first,
but now you can get them whitened in a mall; even when there is decay. I know
folks who put false lashes over a leaky eye and people who will put high tight
heels on bad feet.
Many years
ago, I had a job teaching students who back then were called remedial learners.
These young adults were all many years behind in their reading and writing skills,
yet with an intense and a very creative approach, and their strong desire and commitment
to learn, we were able to see tremendous progress.
One day, I
was teaching about the difference between the internal and the external when one
student raised his hand and stood up. He said, “I need to know something and I
want and answer now.”
The “kid”
towered over everyone in the room. He rarely spoke but when he did his deep
commanding voice commanded everyone’s attention.
“What is it?”
I asked softly, hoping that it would encourage him to take some of the bass out
of his voice. It did not. “If I take care of the intrinsic will I get the
extrinsic?”
I smiled
that beaming smile that some teacher had taught me along the way, the one that
says “You are the one I’ve been seeking,” and I told him yes.
He sat back
down and I shared more. I told the class that if they would focus on internal
values, then the desires for the extrinsic would change. This time, he smiled
and I was overjoyed.
Take care of
what matters and everything will become energy. Or as Einstein said:
E=mc2
Be you, be well, be
smart and cute
Bertice Berry, PhD.
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