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Every Seagull Thinks They Are the Loudest

Every seagull thinks they are the loudest?

Floating in a 20’ Jon boat off the shore of Wildwood, NJ several years ago, my father and I found ourselves surrounded by seagulls looking for a free meal. The soaring birds were hungry, noisy and willing to take food anyway they could get it. Even if it meant landing on the boat we were drifting on fishing for flounder.

I don’t remember seagulls in central Pennsylvania as a young lad, but ever since the 1972 flood, I have noticed how they have become permanent residents of our valley’s farmland and parking lots.

After a morning of enduring the rolling waves, the burning, glaring sun and the constant taste of salt water in our mouths, we would return to our hotel for a shower, an afternoon nap and then off to the boardwalk for an evening of very memorable sights, smells and enjoyment. Amazing how we can walk for hours and consume the delicious foods from the mile long boardwalk. Pizza, burgers, fries, popcorn, cotton candy, fudge, taffy, funnel cakes, corn dogs, gyros and walk-away sundaes. (Yes, we can smell ice cream!)

I found it very important to ensure that my grandchildren experiences those same experiences that I did growing up. Although, the boardwalk shops have changed. I don’t see the beaded doors to the entrance to the hippie shops and I cannot find my favorite decal to put on my favorite ‘T’ shirt to take home.

I find it interesting the experiences that I remember and how they have shaped me. Each of us experience different things in our lifetime and we each have an emotional take away that has either a negative or positive effect on our lives. Recently reading the book “Emotional Intelligence 2.0” by Dr. Travis Bradberry and Theresa Greaves, my thinking has really taken on a new perspective. Just as important as learning knowledge, this book shares about the importance of being aware and managing our own emotions.

The four areas of emotional intelligence are

1) Self-Awareness – the ability to know and understand our emotions in any given situation,

2) Self-Management – pertains to the awareness of our emotions and how to remain flexible and positive in any circumstance,

3) Social awareness – is utilizing our abilities to understand the emotions of others by listening and observing, and

4) Relationship Management – managing interactions successfully by building a bond with others.

I am a firm believer of positive thinking and have found that although it doesn’t always help me complete every task, it does in fact, help me in every situation better than negative thinking.

Just like the smells in the atmosphere surrounding the beach cities, the salt air, the marsh, the traffic, the food, the seagulls, we are affected by those memorable experiences.

One cannot arrive where they want to be in life, without first knowing where they are!

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