Everybody's Cup of Tea

**Disclaimer:  this post is not actually about tea.**

Now that half my readership has left, let's get down to brass tax {or is it tacks...and where does that expression come from? Fodder for another post perhaps}. And please, in advance, forgive me for the roundabout nature of this post--I promise, the train will eventually come back to the station.

Where to begin...

I suppose we go back to just before Christmas. One fateful afternoon, I turned my television to the Hallmark Channel. You know how it is...you try to watch just one Christmas-themed love story. And then you've taped them all and watched 98% of the Countdown to Christmas lineup. And then you remember how much you love the Hallmark Channel and don't turn your television off that channel for the next two months...just me? Okay, moving on.

As you may or may not know, I was having a lot of trouble sleeping last week. Probably because I stopped taking sleeping pills for a while, but that's neither here nor there. Sometimes when I can't sleep I flip on the television. And does anybody else know what's playing on the Hallmark Channel from 10:00 pm to midnight? The Golden Girls. That's right. And they just suck you in, those feisty old gals. And that theme song is so catchy...anyway, one of the episodes I clearly remember watching over the weekend involved Rose {Betty White's character, for those of you who don't know}. Rose was all upset because somebody at work didn't like her. And everybody likes her! She's the "nice one," you know. 

That really stuck with me. I have this awful need to be liked. I've always been that way. I want everybody to like me--I wish I could explain why. It really bothers me when people don't like me, I go out of my way to do things that might make other people view me in a positive light. And I hate it! Not the being liked part--I mean, who doesn't like being liked? But I hate that it is something that completely consumes me at times. I'm a peacemaker and a mediator and a listener, and maybe that's where it stems from--the need for peace. 

But I'm trying desperately to change that. As I've gone through my life up until this point, I've obviously had to face reality. I've had to deal with people who don't like me {even if I don't understand what I've done to make them dislike me}. 

And, maybe a little later than everyone else, I've come to the realization that I can't be expected to like everyone I meet, so why should everyone who meets me? The things I do aren't for everyone--not many people can be satisfied by knitting and watching good movies, reading good books and singing while they wash dishes. Not everyone cheers for my favorite team or reads my favorite authors or listens to my favorite albums...and why should they? Why shouldn't we all be the best version of ourselves? As that one quote goes, "Be yourself...everybody else is taken." And if you don't like me for me, then I'm not changing who I am to make you like me. 

To bring it back to the title...earlier this year my sister introduced me to Kacey Musgraves. I absolutely am addicted to her newest album, and toward the end of Pageant Material, you will find the song Cup of Tea. Basically, her philosophy in that song is that you can't be everybody's cup of tea. Some people like it black and some like it green, some like it bitter and some like it sweet, some like it iced and some like it hot and that's okay! {The tea metaphor really resonated with me, okay?} We can all make our tea however we want. We can all be whoever we want. And we've all got the right to be wrong...so who are we to tell someone they're wrong? Unless they're trying to tell you that the capital of Texas is Dallas. Then they're wrong, and you should correct them. 

So you go out there and be the best darn cup of tea anybody ever saw! Have you ever walked down the tea aisle or in a tea store? There are so many varieties and combinations that the possibilities are endless...as they also are for you!

~Stay Gold!