Seeking and avoiding the George in all of us

I was sitting in a Quaker Memorial Service on Saturday for a man named George and was reveling in all the amazingly wonderful messages people were sharing about him, especially considering that George, whom I didn't know terribly well, suffered from some personality disorders and while an incredibly intelligent man, could also apparently be a very difficult friend to have. The gathered crowd made no attempt in their spoken messages to hide what everyone there knew about him and made passing reference to the challenge of being his friend, but took great care to emphasize all the best things about him as well. And I was so impressed by the loving, intelligent people with whom I was surrounded. They seemed to be all the same people who had been to all the previous memorial services I'd been to, fully of loving, caring messages about the deceased. And I was reveling in their love and thoughtfulness and wondering why there aren't more people like that in the world, when I realized that these are also the same people who, when I get back out in my car on the highway, going 64 in a 55 mph zone, will be flying up behind me, blinking their lights at me, or not letting me in when I try to merge or taking my parking space if I don't get there first. I think there is a bigger message in what I realized, but I'm not sure what it is yet. But it did strike me that that duality in all of us was apparently most evident in George himself, who could be both the best of friends to have, and the worst as well.

Just don't open your mind so much that stuff falls out!

I wish I had been more willing to try new experiences and to open my mind (see post below) to things I never considered when I was younger. I never took things like yoga, TM, or even reiki (if i'd have heard of it before I met Cheryl, that is) seriously when I was younger, but I now realize I was so wrong about them. Now I wonder what else I may be missing. And don't tell me I should try being a conservative! I have my limits.

You probably think you know the answers to these, but I'm a better judge of that than you, and you can't convince me otherwise

Two things people would answer "Yes" to, when they should say "No":

1 - Are you a good judge of people?

I used to think I was a good judge of people until a close friend and idol of mine went to jail for conspiracy to commit triple murders and then another friend was discovered, by me, to have stolen a half million dollars from the company we worked for at the time.

2 - Are you open-minded?

I think people are open-minded about things they don't yet have an opinion on, but not so much on things they've already made up their mind about. When is the last time YOU had your mind changed by someone?