Troff Family Stubbornness

In my family, the "Troff family stubbornness" is something to be proud of. We (half jokingly) tell our stubborn moment stories, often trying to one-up each other.

I don't think that being stubborn is always a bad thing. Standing firm for something you believe in is a quality to strive for. Sticking with something even when it gets hard is the only way to ever accomplish anything. There are other (wonderful) words that incorporate the same qualities as stubborn: perseverance, standing firm, strength.

A quality that often accompanies stubbornness--one that isn't as admirable--is being close minded on issues. It's easy to say "You can have any opinion you would like," but it is even easier to attach the silent phrase, "but if that's what you think, you are dead wrong," to the end. Having an opinion--even a strong opinion--can be a very good thing as long as you allow others to have their own opinions as well.

This is one area that I struggle with. I will read someone's opinion about something online or be having a discussion with a friend and feel my body react to it. My stomach will clench and my blood will boil and I will get riled up. I will. It can be hard for me to understand how the other person can see things that way. I am a very emotional person and sometimes those emotions get in the way of my logic.

This is one of the reasons I decided to start this blog. I want to have a place where I can sit down and think about my opinions, try to articulate them into a logical argument. I am excited to read and learn more about different issues and hear what others have to say on the subjects. I will be focusing on issues that I currently feel a deep connection to--home schooling, out-of-birth hospitals, stay-at-home mothers, motherhood itself, and health.

I am excited to finally start posting to this blog. It is something I have been considering for a long while. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do.