There used to be a TV show Monk. Monk had amazing observational skills but as these skills came along with 3 times a week therapy and a rather large dose of OCD. He would often be heard saying “It’s a blessing/gift and a curse.

There are traits that we have that are awesome to have, like observational skills. At the same time, as one is living with them all the time, they can also be a curse. Too much of anything is bad, especially if you can’t ever unsee, or unfeel something.

What is my blessing and curse? Thinking of course. I think of things that no one else does: it’s a blessing. I think of things no one else does: it’s a curse…

Out of all the stupid things that I do and say on my blog and in my life, I rarely get comments about them. But if I think a little too hard about something…if I peel back the curtain and you see the side of the wizard…if I focus on one little germ of something that people are trying to keep to the background….people question me.

Don’t you think you’re overthinking ______________?

Why are you thinking that?

The other day I commented on my sister’s Facebook post. Do you know the answer someone gave me?

“Those are not things for us to think about.”

Of course I hear the words- “It’s not our place to to question the thoughts that people in high ranking places make” (which was the context that this comment most closely aligns with) I immediately think: Gee- isn’t that what a bunch of people said in Nazi Germany- you know they were just following orders and all…

But there I go thinking again…

There I go making comparisons again…(FYI- comparisons- blessing and a curse)

Why do people have problems with my thinking?

Outside of trolls, the most negative comments I receive on my blog and in my personal life have to do with my thinking…

I find it funny that people now want to censor what one thinks in their head…

I find it odd that people don’t really like those who are curious, who question things..,

They don’t really like people who can connect the dots, who see patterns in things…

Because people who can do things like this are a little bit scary…they’re a tad unusual.

And as a society we still have problems with those who are different.

Now we’ve discussed my personal issues, let’s think about yours (no pun intended)

What thing in your life is a blessing and a curse? What is a trait that is so inherently you, yet at times it can be more of a drain?

Think…

Discuss…

Note– I have not had the opportunity to record a podcast because I have not have the opportunity record in a quiet spot. Hoping to have at least one included to tomorrow if you are inclined to listen.

76 thoughts on “A Blessing and a Curse”

  1. I have a very good memory. I can recall conversations, lines from books, past hurts and the list goes on. Unless it is very important I try not to bring it up to people as they will doubt me or get defensive. I sure would like to forget certain things although I would like to remember why I walked into the kitchen!

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    1. The good memory is a great example. One of my best friends can recall everything, and we joke about it, but yeah…people don’t always trust someone whose memory is that good.

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  2. Wow this post lines up with a quote that I almost shared yesterday. It said “THINK: while its still legal!”

    A blessing and a curse to be a fast reader! LOL! For books just don’t last long!

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    1. The fast reader thing! I know! Omg I hadn’t thought about that. And I missed your post yesterday!! I was bust but I thought I was caught up! Going to find it!

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  3. I have the same problem. I get comments like, “You’re a deep thinker.” What? We don’t think anymore?

    It’s not been a problem or curse so much as my belief (and, following, action) that anyone can talk to anyone, and that I can speak about the same issues as others but from a different viewpoint.

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  4. My wrinkles.. 100% curse. Sweet tooth.. 100% curse. Procrastination..100% curse. Slow reader, lousy memory… curses! curses! Sense of humor..ok, blessing (it keeps me sane) curse (it gets me into trouble.)

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  5. “It’s not our place to to question the thoughts that people in high ranking places make”

    Who says anything like that? I don’t even understand how or why anyone would say such a thing. Of course it’s our place to question everything until we find a satisfactory answer. 🤨

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    1. You and I are of like minds. My sister posted something on Facebook that I thought she was being a tad hysterical. I commented. The person actually said this to me when I said…don’t you wonder the timing of this decision…to which they responded it wasn’t up to us to think about why they made the decision they did. Can you imagine?

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  6. First off, I would say what you do, in part, is referred to as critical thinking. I believe that’s a good thing. I believe we should all examine all the sides of an issue. People can be taught to think critically and go deeper, some just have the skill already. I’ve tried to teach the skill to middle school students when I was tutoring. They are terrified, and they simply want someone to feed them answers. Perhaps way to many people just want to be fed answers… Personal blessing/curse: I am ever so slightly (!) a control freak. Example: at work I know things will be done “correctly” if I’m doing them, but when I actually have to work alongside coworkers and give them leave to proceed in their own way my anxiety levels rise and I have the need to micro-manage. It’s always best if I simply walk away, then come back and fix things later 😉

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    1. I totally get that…like watching my family load the dishwasher….😆but you’re right…critical thinking has sort of gone by the wayside. Instead of thinking fir themselves, using logic, people jump right to the internet. Remember back in the day if we had a problem we first thought if all the ways we could fix it. Not so much anymore…

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  7. I am an introvert. I am alone a lot of the time. The blessing side is that over the past year of Covid restrictions, my life didn’t change a whole lot.

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  8. Like you, I too think of things nobody thinks about. I have been told I over think, make issues where there isn’t any – when is ‘expressing my opinion’ an issue?? (Of course, an issue for those who cannot take another person’s opinion into consideration.)
    Just this morning, I was told ‘nobody is as perfect as you are’ – a sarcastic remark when I told that person the words we use in right/wrong way can change (make or break) a relationship.
    I also have a good memory power – a curse and a gift. I remember most of the stuff I studied at school. I also remember the hurtful things I was told.😑 Reminds me of AC’s Poirot novel – Elephants Can Remember for some reason.😉

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    1. Why are these bad things to other people? Is it scary to see others doing things that they can’t? Shouldn’t our individual strengths be celebrated? Lus we make great trivia partners

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      1. Exactly. They can’t digest that we are different, do things differently. Roles reversed, don’t we appreciate other people’s talents? Don’t we listen when their opinions differ from ours? So, why can’t they? 🤷‍♀️

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  9. I don’t understand the idea that we shouldn’t think about or question the decisions of those “above” us. Of course I am the guy who angry tweeted a lot at my governor last night, so…

    As far as blessing and a curse – I do overthink which leads to stress and anxiety. I am always on time/early which leads to conflict with others who are always late.

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  10. “Those are not things for us to think about.” ???? That’s priceless!

    I have a good memory, almost photographic sometimes, and found it came in handy at my job which was high volume dealing with 200 people/day but very details based. Once a bank teller recognized me and asked me about her medication and I knew exactly what she was on as I’d caught a major drug interaction five years before. She was amazed I remembered. This can be a curse too, as you tend to remember bad things or stupid things people said to you years ago, after everyone else would have forgotten it, and then you get labeled as “too sensitive.” Being OCD/organized can be great for you, and also for other people who expect you will take care of everything for everyone, because that’s what you always do!

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  11. Great post. It’s amazing how you come up with these themes and thoughts day after day. I can see how it can be a blessing and a curse. There are so many questions and so few answers. In my case, I’d say the blessing/curse is thinking too much and not feeling enough.

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  12. Blessing/Curse – I can easily roll from one thing to another. No, I’m not ADHD, but simply able to pick up and drop when needed and go back to it later. Blessing/Curse I love to talk on the phone but I hate to zoom because I feel tied down because someone is watching me. Great post LA!

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  13. Similar to you , I think a lot . Not everyone wants to think or talk about the things I am curious about so I feel a little lonely sometimes. Thank God for blogs! I discovered there are others out there like me. I really consider blogging a blessing but I also can get too caught up in it and my mind starts writing blogs all day . Like today’s blog , I thought about that subject too much . Or did I ? Somebody needs to look into things . Why not me ? Keep thinking and writing LA!!🙌 also same problem with the podcast. It’s quiet now , but I need to go to town . 🤷‍♀️

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  14. The way you overthink is the basis of your blog, and I love this blog, so keep the questions coming. My nemesis and blessing is impulsiveness because I act before I think things through. I’m your girl if there’s a fire, not so much if you’re trying to nap. C

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  15. I love Monk and have been re-watching the entire series. I’m in the last season and don’t want it to end! I’m a bit like him in some ways, I have to admit. I often think about the bad things that could happen in a given situation. This has probably saved me a few times (blessing) but also causes me to miss out on things that could be fun, on occasion (curse). I’ve always been this way, and the isolation of the pandemic has probably made it worse.

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  16. Mmmm. Not question people in authority or high-ranking positions? Not true. Truth is revealed, in layers, through asking questions; strategic questions. Socrates, anyone? Anyway. Okay, yes, I do. I can think very big, very big, and I can think very small. Think vision and day-to-day grind, or details. The big thinking got me in a little bit of “trouble” on this team early on for giving out too much information to people who were unable to hold it all, and their daily work, at the same time. Oh, yes, that’s another one of my “special talents.” I can hold a lot, for myself, and for other people, which, as you can surmise, is also a blessing and a curse. Always, excellent, LA; oh, and your thinking is fantastic. Keep it up.

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  17. I so identify with this! I guess I am also guilty of thinking too much but I don’t know how else to be. And, honestly, I don’t feel any great need to change myself to make someone else more comfortable. Frig that. I was once told not to rock the boat, but if I see something as unjust you can bet I WILL rock that boat. Yes, it can be both blessing and curse. That’s okay, that’s life.

    btw I absolutely adored Monk, it was a fantastic show and one of the first to shed a bit of light on OCD, although it can be a very debilitating disease and not to be taken lightly.

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  18. Same. This is why we’re blogging friends. My grandmother once told me not to analyze something. Asking me not to analyze something is like asking me not to breathe.

    I wish we could all appreciate one another’s strengths and go from there. You and I may overthink, which is useful sometimes; someone else may do something else a lot, like spring into action…that’s useful, too…sometimes.

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  19. My memory is a blessing and a curse. I remember everything which helped when studying and taking tests. Good memories are a blessing. All the embarrassing moments when I made an ass of myself are the curse. Also, horrific memories when things were frightening as a child of my parents fighting still haunt me.

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  20. I am very conflict-averse. A blessing in that I waste very little emotional energy on trivial disputes, ignoring things like people who cut in line or fail to pick up their dog’s poop. A curse in that sometimes, I don’t engage over big things when I should, allowing them to fester and slowly poison relationships or situations.

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  21. When I read this earlier today, I drew a blank, but something just hit me. One of my strengths is I enjoy deep robust , honest conversations. While I can do superficial conversations w/ the best of them. I can only take so much, I find I get irritated with someone who is a poser. Poser: a person who pretends to be something he is not.

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  23. LA, think, question, and never stop! When those censors get the best of us, we end up in Nazi Germany concentration camps, the Soviet Union gulags, or Chinese Communist Party re-education camps. We are getting dangerously close.

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  24. Mine have to be that I’m soft hearted and that I can often see both sides of a situation. Being soft hearted means that I’m caring and sympathetic to others, but it also means that I’m easily hurt or that others tend to use that caring to try and manipulate me or so many other things that lead to that hurt. Being able to see both sides of a situation sort of builds off that in that I can often put myself in other people’s shoes and understand why they would behave in a situation that would be easy to jump in and say is completely wrong. This can come across as being indecisive or as “sitting on the fence” and not really taking sides. When so many people see the world as black or white, being able to sit in that middle and see all the colors doesn’t always go over well. I do also tend to overthink things, but not usually to the point of it being problematic.

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  25. Thinking is good, thinking is important, thinking is necessary. Ally pretty much covered my reaction to that FB comment.

    My blessing/curse is empathy – I’m grateful that I have it for it’s very useful in my chosen profession, but but it can also be a curse as in my social life it draws people to me because they need something from me which is draining. I’m naturally really social but, even before Covid, have become way more of an introvert.

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  26. Sometimes I wonder if critical thinking is extinct. It’s so much easier for everyone if the masses will just take the spoon-fed pablum of our “news” outlets and entertainment and not question anything. Is critical thinking a blessing or a curse? I suppose it depends on which side of the issue we’re on.

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    1. I think you’re right. Critical thinking has gone away. It’s all copy and paste. People don’t want to think for themselves…they want to be spoon fed. It’s sad that people choose not to think for themselves

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  27. Being brilliant is my blessing and curse. If I tell people I’m brilliant they think I’m arrogant. If I modestly tell them I’m just average they accuse me of false modesty. It’s so difficult striking a balance.

    You must find the same thing – how do you handle it?

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  28. Well, I’m not too good at or interested in self-analysis. I will admit, though, that I have engaged in it a time or two like through all those self help books I have purchased on bookstore bargain shelves and more recently checked out at the library. On top of that, as always, comments from your followers have made me a bit more introspective in trying to answer your question.

    I guess in some ways my preference for digging into details is one of those curse/blessing sort of things. It’s also related to a personality quirk that, like several I may own up to, is a pushback against my mom’s instantitis and inability to make or stick to a decision. It takes me forever to finally reach a decision, after much analysis of all aspects of the situation, of course, but then I stick to it come hell or high water.

    There are others but I won’t waste your time or mine in enumerating all of them right now. If I ever restart any kind of semi-regular blog posting, that might be a subject.

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