For our BeWow posts this week, Rovonan has suggested we might like to share our favourite quotes on positivity. I love this one:

‘Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.’ Albert Einstein.

To me, this quote speaks volumes. When I was growing up I was not only extremely shy, but also painfully clumsy and awkward. This made for a terribly unfortunate combination, and I know many thought I was stupid. Being shy meant that I did not want to engage much in conversation (even now I am rubbish at small talk), so that gave the impression that I had nothing worth contributing. Added to that, when I did try to join in, I would either stumble over my words or say the wrong thing as I rarely think before I speak (I still do that, and only today had to amend a comment that I realised straight away I had got completely wrong)!

Throw the clumsiness into the mix, and you really have a walking disaster! I have been on the receiving end of many a strange look as I have plucked up the courage, launched myself into a room, only to go flying over something. As a teenager I took part in a German student exchange trip with my school. On my first morning in Germany as I went to go outside onto the balcony for breakfast, I walked smack bang into the glass doors and nearly knocked myself out!

However, this fish can swim, and I found that as I got older and became less shy, I also became more determined to prove that I am not completely stupid (ok so I am no way a genius either), and can do things with competently. (However I know that if I had to take blood from any of my family, they would run a mile at the sight of me coming at them with a needle, my patients though, do not have that luxury)!

The point is, we are all good at something. Just because we might not be dexterous or academic, does not mean that we are idiots, or stupid, and that is why I love this quote, as it highlights the fact that not only should we not judge others on things we consider they should be good at, but also the fact that if we do, it can have a devastating effect on them that can last a lifetime.