When I was a senior in high school, my calculus teacher said something along the lines of "Sherry, you need to relax. You're so uptight." Or perhaps it was "Don't be so uptight." I don't recall which, and it doesn't matter. The point is that I kind of freaked out. Well, I a lot freaked out.
For the next couple of weeks I frequently tried to convince myself and others that I wasn't uptight. "Am I uptight?" I would ask. "Mrs. Edwards says I'm uptight, but I'm not. I'm just not." They, of course, would get a little squirmish trying to decide how to tell me that, well, um...yes...I was uptight. In fact, I clearly remember most all of them dodging the question a little bit, avoiding having to tell me directly that I was rather uptight. One friend did finally tell me, and after a little while I began to see why people thought I was uptight. But I still tried to convince myself that I just wasn't.
Some time in college I realized Mrs. Edwards was right. She still is. I'm very uptight. But I don't mind anymore. Being uptight gets things done for me. I alternate between two extremes: uptight but getting things done and sheer laziness. I've been under the sheer laziness category lately (since I graduated), and I need to start getting more things accomplished! Maybe now that I'm out of school I can do that without being quite so high-strung.
Give yourself over to the uptight-ness. You know you want to.
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