Perfect Measurements

One of my favorite questions to ask a group of people is this: "If I tell you that I have a couple of apples here in this bag, how many would you say there are?" Seems simple enough, right? Just a quick question, met with a quick answer. Not as simple as one might imagine. You wouldn't believe the difference in opinions throughout the country. For me, its cut and dry. A couple is two. Always, no questions asked.

That answer is not the same for everyone, and what I have determined (after years of asking this very same question in a variety of ways), is that a couple means two to me. That is my definition based on my own experience. In reality, the word "couple" is extraordinarily vague to many people. It sits in a gray area, and is rarely agreed upon. To some it means 3. Others would say 3-5. Another would say "more than one." And many will argue their position with vehemence.

Imagine, then, the variety of answers to define the word "success." Talk about living in a gray area! Just thinking about the individual members of my family brings forth six, maybe seven different definitions. To some it means wealth. Others would say job title. Another would base it on the number of friends and acquaintances. Many will pass harsh judgment on not only your own personal definition, but also your position in life according to THEIR measurement. 

Definitions and Questions

The internet is full of opinions on female confidence. Fulfilling your Inner Self. The Confident Woman. "Do You Have What it Takes?" And there is little evidence as to whether or not the traits listed hold true...because the actual Confident Woman doesn't spend time much effort or time reading and assessing the articles, questioning whether she is or is not as confident as she thinks. She just is and she's already well aware.

Should you choose to skim a few of those articles, you would find things like "confident women don't gossip." Instead, they spend their time discussing their own goals and visions. Confident women don't hold back, they set the trends, they are not people pleasers and they don't worry about much. They follow the QTIP rule: quit taking it personally. They welcome comfortable silence. Confident women don't glorify how busy they are, in fact, you'll rarely hear them speak about it. They are focused on their priorities and rarely allow themselves to get the point of being overwhelmed. Confident women are not defeated by failure, and peer pressure is not in their vocabulary.

As with all good internet articles, some of that is pretty on target...some of it might not be. Most of it gets too wordy to bother with, and a bit of it ends up pretty convoluted anyhow. And so, what is it we are really talking about here?

Confidence: (kanfedens) noun. a feeling of self-assurance arising from one's appreciation of one's own abilities or qualities. 

A.K.A.

February 2, 1848

Mexico won its independence from the Spanish Empire back in 1821 during the Mexican War of Independence. In 1845 (during his last weeks in office), President John Tyler signed legislation that authorized the annexation of the Republic of Texas, a move that was viewed by the Mexican government as an act of war; Mexico never viewed the Republic of Texas as an independent country. The United Kingdom and France both tried to persuade Mexico to stay out of war with the United States, but to no avail. In April of 1846, Mexican forces attacked Americans near the Rio Grande (in close proximity to future President Zachary Taylor's camp) in a raid known as the Thornton Affair. Within a month, Congress passed (and President James Polk signed) a declaration of war. By July, Mexican Congress had done the same.

Georgia State of Mind

January 2, 1788

Although we tend to think of American Civil War stories when discussing the  history of the State of Georgia, there was a lot of action in the Peach State during the American Revolution as well. 

Georgia Patriots raided the magazine in Savannah in 1775, dividing the stolen powder with South Carolina. After driving out the royal governor, James Wright, following Savannah’s Battle of the Rice Boats in February of 1776, Archibald Bulloch was named commander in chief of the militia. Delegates were sent to the Philadelphia convention in time to sign the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. 

Ten...Nine...Eight...

January 1, 1908

In 1904, Longacre Square in New York City was renamed Times Square in honor of (or at the urging of) the New York Times. “Lobster Palaces” quickly gained popularity, spots like Rector’s on the corner of Broadway and 44^th, allowing NYC’s middle class to enjoy the delicacies and grandeur only known to the upper echelon until this point. 

Six Grandfathers

October 4, 1927

Before the Great Sioux War of 1876, the mountain we know today as Mount Rushmore had a wide variety of names. The Lakota Sioux knew the land as "Six Grandfathers." The route was part of an annual spiritual journey for Sioux leader Black Elk as he headed for the top of Harney Peak. White settlers knew the mountain as Sugarloaf Mountain, Cougar Mountain, Slaughterhouse Mountain, and/or Keystone Cliffs. Charles Rushmore, an attorney from New York, visited area with a group of fellow prospectors in 1885; the group included David Swanzey, who was the brother-in-law of American author Laura Ingalls Wilder. The mountain was named (obviously) in honor of Rushmore, and is a part of the Black Hills of South Dakota where gold had first been discovered in 1874.