to vote for favorites. Only 6 votes needed to get on the list.
I wrote a list of people and what I admired about them. I did not intend to pick my family when I began, but the people that came to mind were not world leaders, sport stars, or historical figures. They were my family and friends. Everything I admire I can find in the people I know. I find that very reassuring.
I turned the notebook page I wrote the list on into a card using the image in this article, and gave it out to a few hundred people. I know my wispy scribbles are illegible, but I thought the page looked interesting. Some people, my wife included, find the fact that words are recognizable, but barely legible, to be very troubling, so for all of their sanity, the translation of the page is found below.
When I decided I would publish the page, I removed the real names, and replaced them with code names. It was a fun thing to do. I wanted them to be able to figure out who was who without any help.
Well Dressed: Beautiful, hard worker, smart and capable, doesn’t take shit from anyone, S.P.O.C1, low woman bullshit factor2
Fun Dude: Outside the box thinker, passionate, always looking for a good time (like all my brothers), friendly, good friend and family man
Favorite: Everyone’s favorite, calm, handles things with apparent ease (and crying), is a happy person!
Movies: strong, no-nonsense (her and Lifeguard get this from mom), relaxed, biting and child-like approach to humor (easy to laugh)
Movies: strong, no nonsense (her and lifeguard get this from Mom), relaxed, biting and child-like approach to humor (easy to laugh)
Speedwalker: Head from Dad – heart from Mom.3 Do anything for family or friends, kind, generous, supportive, hard working
Kid Magnet: relaxed and easy going, nothing ruffles her, really funny (dry humor)
Restaurant: smart (one of the smarter people I know), love to shoot the shit with him (like all my brothers), capable, funny
Gearhead: Loves my sister (like all my brothers), good Dad, hard working, passionate
Traveler: Fun, easy-going, calm, everyone loves her, force of nature in a crowd
Athlete: Big smiles, fun, always looking for a good time, beautiful, tough as shit (good athlete)
Lifeguard: Good Mom (the most like my mom), funny, practical, hard working, family oriented, patient
Venezuelan: smart, taught me a lot (good teacher), funny, practical, thinks like I do
Common Traits: Smart, capable, funny, determined, confident, good family and friends people (have their priorities straight), hard working, practical, kind, open
I could have chosen standard names like Gandhi and J.F.K and written about their admirable qualities, but I’m glad I did it this way. You don’t have to dig through stories of famous people from far away lands to be inspired. Discovering something you admire in someone is part of loving them, which provided me plenty to write down.
Footnotes
- Single Point Of Contact: the friend at the hub of the group, the one that connects everyone else [↩]
- Don’t be offended. Men have their own set of bullshit [↩]
- I have always had this romantic notion that my head comes from my father and my heart comes from my mother. In both cases I feel I have done well. [↩]
1 
Loading ...
Obviously it is impossible to adequately characterize anyone with a short list of traits, these are just the first ones that popped into my head as I scribbled them down.
[...] because there is none, so I am too critical. They get involved, they do something, and that is admirable. (No Ratings Yet) Loading [...]
[...] have a good laugh about it. This is one of the fine qualities I mean when I say that Michelle has a low woman bullshit factor. Self-assurance is sexy, and it is not an ingredient in hair spray. Someone should tell these other [...]