Laurie: It occurred to me that I have an ever-growing list of things I will never do.  First and foremost is anything I am told to do.  I’m not saying I can’t or won’t follow instructions, but telling me I have to do something is the kiss of death.  Even if it makes perfect sense, I’m still not going to do it.  There are so many clever ways you can make a suggestion or even manipulate me to make me think it is my idea.  And then I may do what you want me to. I appreciate ingenuity and imagination.  But don’t waste your time bestowing demands on me.  I am not particularly proud of this characteristic, but as compensation I will promise you that I will never tell you to do anything either.  So somehow there’s a justification or a quid pro quo (like I even know what that means).

elizabeth: As a wee child I would just do whatever I wanted to do because I was told not to do certain activities. And then my parents  discovered reverse psychology and applied it to me on a daily basis. I loved to run across the street – especially when I was forbidden from doing it. Then one day my mother bravely told me “Go ahead, go across the street and don’t look.” I did not move from my parents’ front lawn for the rest of the summer. Grass did not grow under the shadow I cast from turning to stone before my mother’s eyes.

And yet as of today if you tell me to do something in a certain way– all bets are off. And that comes from the small, insecure and frightened kid in me. But and there is a big enormous BUT.  But if I know you and know that you would never throw me under a bus and you slip and your request sounds like “a demand,” I shall always give you the benefit of the doubt. Because I know you are not trying to screw with my head and feel superior to me. Or tell me what to do. And to be quite honest, I don’t tell people what to do unless they might harm themselves or someone else.  Or me.  I will always ask, hope for help and leave it up to whomever to decide. And I deserve, no, demand the same in return.

Laurie: I know Jimmy Carter said it first but I will never lie to you.  Now before you nominate me for sainthood, let me tell you that this has nothing to do with virtue.  Instead it is more a laziness issue.  I am too lazy to remember what lie I told and to whom.  And sometimes you even have to figure out the people who may come in contact with your lie through the people that you lied to.  And then you have to put them on the list of people with whom you have to maintain the lie.  And even worse, remember whose on which list.  It just seems easier to tell the truth so I do.  Tangled webs – not for lazy ole me.

elizabeth: I think I need several shots of good tequila before I go back to what you just said about lying. I might even eat the damn worm at this point.

Laurie: And in a more frivolous nature, I will never wear heels again.  Them days are over.  My pants can drag on the ground, my legs can appear short and squatty, my dresses can look like an unfinished outfit, and I will never be taller than 5’2”.  I don’t care.  My feet can no longer be forced to stand on my toes and walk at the same time.  It was unnatural when I was younger, and it’s damn near impossible now.  Even if Tyra and her cadre of skinny wanna-be models implored me to stomp the runway with them, I would have to refuse.  Unless she was looking for a bare-foot midget that can easily fit into a size 2X7.  In that case, sign me up.

elizabeth: Don’t you mean a bare-footed small person? As for me, after losing two inches off my height due to Osteopenia, you can bet your ass that I will be wearing heels so I can breathe the same air I have always ingested since the sixth grade. It is a little more rarefied up there.  And I like to have people look up to me…as long as they are not telling me what to do.

© 2010, Coaches on the Edge ™

If you would like to learn more about Laurie, please go to her site: Empowered Life Journeys.

Stop by at elizabeth’s site at: Branching Out Life Coaching