On the east side of our house sits a hydrangea. Its growth is huge but we rarely get blossoms ~ except for this year.
The purple blossom burst into color late in the season. Â Quite a difference from the pale color it started as.
As I pondered this, it made me think of my own life and how I have always thought “differently” ~ yet changing with time.
I remember over 35 years ago, I took a correspondence class to learn Fortran (computer programming). I diligently studied and sent my lessons in only to have them marked “incorrect, try again.” Â The frustrating thing was that the answers were right but the steps I took to get to the answer were a little longer than their steps.
As much as I tried, I could not figure out how we both came to the same answer following different steps. Â Yet they were saying my way was wrong. Â Inside though, I knew I wasn’t wrong. Â Different, yes. Â Wrong, no. Â Unfortunately I had to drop the class.
Has this ever happened to you?
I find many instances where my “thinking” is different from others and I’m looked at as odd. Of course, many times we don’t come up with the same conclusion ~ as with math which is a challenge for me.
Another example: Â Not too long ago, my husband purchased an electric weed whacker. He put the battery in the charger and the next day it was ready to use. And so it was ~ another challenge that my “differently thinking” brain was going to have a hard time figuring out.
One day, a friend came to help me work in the yard and one of the things I asked him to do was use the weed whacker. We headed over to where it was charged and I unplugged the charger. Â Then my brain went blank.
It looked easy enough but honestly, I had no idea what I was supposed to do with it. Â I turned it around and around but normal logic did not kick in.
The picture below shows the battery in the charger.
This next picture shows where the battery is supposed to go. Â My brain knew “something gets plugged in here.” But as much as I wracked my brain, I could not figure out how to get the battery out of the charger.
Such a simple thing ~ well, for most people. Â I simply had to slide the battery off but as much as I tried, I could not figure out how to do it.
My friend saw my frustration, picked up the charger and slid the battery off. Just like that! Â Now I know how to do it ~ the visual and hands-on training helped immensely.
I have learned throughout the years that my logic and other people’s logic is not the same. Â I used to get frustrated that I didn’t “get it” but I’ve since learned that being different doesn’t mean stupid or slow. I’m just wired in a special way.
This has actually made me more empathetic to others who are also “different minded.”
Any more specially wired people out there?
