By Charlene M. Brown
Do you read Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum novels? These laugh out loud, slap your knee, tears in your eyes stories about the crazy adventures of bounty hunter Stephanie Plum can teach us a thing or two about how to be ourselves. Odd as it may seem to use this wacky bounty hunter as a comparison, she is certainly a good example of “Doing You.”
Stephanie is a late-twenty-something/early-thirty-something woman who is expected at her parents’ house for dinner every Friday night and should she be late due to the calamitous nature of her job, the burning of the pot roast and subsequent ruination of dinner will all be blamed on her. She has two men in her life and a myriad of HILARIOUS characters who surround her, including her out-of-pocket, Grandma Mazur, and fast-talking sidekick, Lula. Through all of her crazy adventures, Stephanie manages to maintain her true-isms-her unwavering ability to be herself.
Stephanie admits that she is not the greatest bounty hunter, but relies heavily on her good instincts. Donuts are her “get happy” food and the Trenton Police Department draws straws to see who will have to take care of her shenanigans-and she certainly finds herself in a whole slew of shenanigans! Her pepper spray never works when it’s supposed to and she loses handcuffs and cars at “an alarming rate.” But she always sticks to her guns, sometimes literally (but only if she remembered to take it out of the cookie jar).
We could all take a lesson from Stephanie Plum, however. She knows herself extraordinarily well. She slathers on extra layers of mascara to boost her confidence and wears racy clothes to alternately tick off/turn on her cop-boyfriend. She loses her cool and she believes in revenge, all the while interspersing surprisingly revealing commentary about the state of being a woman. Stephanie lacks life direction and is Jersey Girl all the way. (For those of you not from the Mid-Atlantic United States, that one is hard to explain-go to Jersey, it will make more sense then.)
Despite all of her perceived shortcomings, her mother breathing down her neck about marriage and grandbabies, the constant comparisons to her saintly sister, and the responsibility of the dried out pot roast, Stephanie still manages to “do her.” She still finds the time to be who she truly is.
This is what I want for all of you too. I want you to be at a Place in Your Life where you are present in every moment. Yes! Take Responsibility for things you are, indeed, responsible for, nothing more, nothing less: the dried out pot roast is not your fault. You just have to know that!
“In the infinity of life, where I am, all is perfect, whole, and complete.” ~Louise Hay, You Can Heal Your Life
Do You Love Who You Are Now!? I Do!!
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© 2009 You Can Love Your Life Now!
May 29th, 2009 at 2:53 am
Thanks for posting, I really liked your most recent post. I think you should post more frequently, you obviously have natural ability for blogging!
June 5th, 2009 at 1:57 am
Great post! Just wanted to let you know you have a new subscriber- me!
June 16th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
Thank you for all this wonderful positive feedback. I am going to continue posting, so check back often!
~Charli