Stay Stubborn

"Stay stubborn, if nothing else. Don't let them tell you too much. That doesn't mean you have to be nasty."

-- Robert Frost

That was Robert Frost's advice to a group of college students in a symposium at Harvard. And I think it applies to the rest of us as well. There are always people trying to tell you stuff -- mostly their opinions, perspectives or rules. Take it all with a huge damn grain of salt! You surely don't have to believe something just because someone else says it's so. Usually their advice is rooted in self-interest, whether you, or even they, know it or not.

Earlier this morning my girlfriend was telling me something about how the vitamin C you get in vitamins isn't real vitamin C and it can't be absorbed into your system, and blah, blah, blah. I asked her "Where did you hear this?" She said, "From Dr. Kim, this doctor on the Internet." "And what's he selling?" was my next logical question. And what do you think her answer was? Vitamins, of course. His own special super duper Dr. Kim brand vitamins. Please pass the salt.

Now if I met Dr. Kim in person I wouldn't go off on him and call him a charlatan and a huckster. As Good ole Jack Frost's brother pointed out, there's no need to be nasty. You just don't have to buy his vitamins, or believe his B.S. In fact, you can choose to be loving and stubborn both at the same time. I call it "Cool Head, Warm Heart," and I actually teach a stress management program of that name.

Remember the bumper stickers you used to see (usually on foreign cars) that said "Question Authority?" That's definitely a good starting point. But I'd say you might want to take it a step further and question damn near everything you hear, whether it comes from a bona fide authority figure or not. Love the person, be skeptical of the message. Especially if that message comes from some wild and crazy blogger! Pax.