Friendship. How has a friend changed you or your perspective on the world this year? Was this change gradual, or a sudden burst? (Author: Martha Mihalick)
I suppose the friend who has had the biggest impact on me in the last year would have to be Paul Hummer. Paul’s a great guy—kind, talented, hilarious. We have a blast playing games, meeting for lunch or breakfast, and generally just hashing out tech stuff.
But I suppose the impact that Paul has had on my perspective is that he’s altered my attitudes about religion a bit. Prior to Paul, I had grown very intolerant of Christian religious beliefs. I’m not going to make a case for why or anything—but suffice to say, Mormons in particular were a people who I avoided. Any proselytizing religion is one that I had a strong distaste for, and in my experience, Mormons were kings of that.
So I kind of wrote off the whole group, in that typical asshole human way that we do, but Paul made me realize that not all Mormons are bad. Really, when religious discussion is avoided, I find them all to be quite fantastic people.
It seems like a small thing to describe, for someone to give you a bit more tolerance about something you were intolerant towards by being a great living counterexample to your misconceptions. But it’s been a pretty big impact on my attitudes.
I’m still pretty down on the whole religion thing, but I definitely come at discussions about it with more respect towards people with beliefs that I don’t personally hold.
Lesson learned. What was the best thing you learned about yourself this past year? And how will you apply that lesson going forward?
I learned that I am actually capable of running a business on my own and the world won’t end and I won’t end up living in a cardboard box from trying. My application moving forward is to keep doing that, and to keep out of that cardboard box. I have more motivation to succeed than I sometimes give myself credit for.
P.S.: Thanks all for the birthday wishes. It was the best birthday I’ve had in a long while. Sarah knitted me a Yeti to sit behind me!! It is so awesome, I cannot tell you. Pictures next week.
Finally getting around to commenting on this. Thanks for the kind words. It made me a bit emotional, because I sometimes wonder if I ever have any impact on the people around me.
I don’t think we avoid religious discussion, but I’ve never approached it with you with an attitude that I need to “save” you. If we talk about religion at all, there’s a mutual respect for each other and the way we feel. My general rule is that I don’t talk about it unless it’s brought up by someone else, i.e. we aren’t talking about Warhammer and when I say “I want to talk to you about Jesus…” I respect you enough to understand that it’s not something you’re interesting in, and you respect me enough to not make me feel like I’m an ignoramus because I’m religious (which all my friends excluding you do). The world could do with a lot more respect.