Every night as I fall asleep on my Chinese bed, I contemplate the word firmness. Those of you who have slept on a Chinese bed know why.
In my contemplation of the word firmness I decided to look it up in the dictionary.
Dictionary.com: Not soft or yielding when pressed; comparatively solid, hard, stiff or rigid; securely fixed in place
Foolish Dictionary*: That admirable quality in ourselves that is detestable stubbornness in others.
As I laughed at the foolish dictionary’s definition, I was struck by the truth of it. Why is it that we admire stubbornness (calling it by a name of some random virtue) in our own lives, and despise stubbornness in others?
I hope that as I live in this new culture, I will leave behind my desire to remain securely fixed in place. I hope that I will not remain firm and unyielding. Rather, I hope to bend and flow and grow in this amazing culture that astounds me daily.
*The Foolish Dictionary: An exhausting work of reference to un-certain English words, their origin, meaning, legitimate and illegitimate use, confused by a few pictures. By Wallace Goldsmith
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| My firm Chinese bed |
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| Finding Rest in China |
Haha... oh I totally remember the firmness of the beds in China! I remember when we got to Bejing, the first thing I wanted to do was to flop down on a nice soft bed. Nedless to say, I did that , but the bed was anything BUT soft! :)
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