Why am I such a BABY?

I don't understand WHY I don't toughen up

and let things slide off me like oil on a duck.

Wait--oil sticks to a duck, yes? Maybe that's my problem.

Confusing the metaphor. Water off a duck's back. Ah. Yes. That's better.

Anyway, I like that my sister taught my little niece

the following mantra years ago, when her brain was still forming:

I'M BIG

I'M STRONG

I'M BEAUTIFUL

I'M SMART!!!!

My niece totally rocked it in her big loud baby voice,

standing with her arms raised in victory over her head:

BIG. STRONG. BEAUTIFUL. SMART.

No problems there, right? Right.

Remembering that mantra and repeating it--and believing it--will,

I'm convinced, deflect 98 percent of the shit

that's thrown her way

as she moves through this world.

(link to totally awesome baby, above: http://www.eamel.net/images/crying-baby.jpg.)