Daily Nugget of Gold 669
Why “We”
Some people may have noticed the author’s habit of referring to himself either in the third person or plural, but not as “I”. Actually, we attribute some of our learning on this to James Taranto who writes an informative and humorous column for The Wall Street Journal called Best of the Web Today. We always admired Taranto’s positive take on things and also his insistence that the credit for what he does be shared with the other people in his life whom have helped him along the way and his entire production team. While at first we were a little bit uncomfortable with the unusual style, it grew on us enough that we considered it worth emulating for several reasons.
Napoleon Hill’s book, Think and Grow Rich declares that “A willingness to share one’s blessings with others” is one of the things that constitute true riches and we’ve noted that whenever we’ve been mindful to do so, we ourselves are indeed blessed even more. The author is also blessed beyond measure with a wonderful marital relationship with a lifetime partner focused on many of the same things, as well as loving children who are tremendous blessings themselves- not to mention countless other family members who light up our lives, both past and present. To put things in a singular, first person manner would discount the importance of these relationships as well as a vast network of friends and associates who all contribute in one way or another to what we do and how well we do it.
As to the third person references made by the author of this, there is this realization that nothing comes to our fingertips by our efforts alone as we write. It may take some getting used to when reading, and it certainly takes a great deal of getting used to in writing, but the bottom line is that our humility is heart-felt for very real reasons. We are so happy and blessed that things turned out this way instead of the road on which we were headed before! Alcohol no longer grips, negative situations are usually quickly turned into opportunities, and love abounds from all corners of the Universe. We’ve had a huge amount of help from loved ones and kind teachers living or passed who have guided us in discovering a better way of being, and we are eternally grateful for all that.
So there you have it. Oddly enough, no one has asked us about why we write in this style, but we figured sooner or later someone would, and rather than do it disservice by forgetting some of the reasons, we’d “pen” a page on it, or would that be- tap one out?- so that our reasons are laid bare and our gratitude is given the proper place in our thoughts. Thanks James, WE appreciate so much your setting the example and starting us down the road to even greater joy and fulfillment.
Question of the Day to Ask Ourselves
“What can I do today which will help me remember that life is a team effort?”
Copyright 2012 Kevin Littleton, all rights reserved.
