Perspectives

I watched a Dr. Phil episode once about a lady with an explosive temper. She was always flying off the handle over nothing. Her husband contacted Dr. Phil for help, so of course Dr. Phil rushed to the husband's aid by sending out an undercover camera crew to follow this woman around videotaping some of her public outbursts. When she came on the show and Dr. Phil asked her about her temper the woman admitted that she was "fiesty" but didn't really seem to think it was all that big of a deal. That's when Dr. Phil fired up the videos of her throwing something at a waitress, screaming at her family, etc. Weirdly enough, after watching the videos of herself the woman had a complete meltdown and claimed to have no idea that her behavior was that far out in left field. It was baffling, I sat there watching the video, and wondering how it was even possible that she could not be aware of the severity of her issues...and that's when I started to feel concerned...

It's been literally years since I have seen that episode, but believe me, it's had a lasting impact on my life. Ever since that afternoon with Dr. Phil I've wished that someone would come videotape me so that I could see myself from an outside perspective. My fear is that I have some horrible personality traits, but I, like the woman on Dr. Phil, remain oblivious to these faults. I've attempted to videotape myself a few times, but it hasn't really worked out, because there was never anyone around to interact with me on the video. Although I did discover that I should not be allowed to chew gum in public since I am seemingly incapable of doing so without chomping on it with my mouth wide open.

Barring the possibility that I have lurking personality issues that have destined me to a life of singleness, perhaps someday I will have children. People tell me that having kids is like having all your faults magnified and then paraded right out in front of you. It sounds very interesting, I wonder if there's anything to that.