Unnoticed Virtues

[Shadow Wolf]

Hi everyone! Hope you're doing well!

OK, you might be wondering about this thread.... well, I'll go straight to the point.

Sometimes, we may have good points (virtues) that we may possess, but due to the never-ending movement of life, we may not notice them until someone points them out for you. So the question is...

Do you have any virtues that you may have not noticed until someone told you, or until a certain pattern was repeated in your life?

Also, while thinking of this idea, another one came right through: have you noticed certain virtues that fellow TPMers have? If you would like to share them, then feel free to do it here. :)

Of course, if it's obvious, then it is not necessary to share them, right? (We all know that all TPMers are awesome, duh?)

- Me? Well, something that has repeated in my life is the capacity to listen (and solving) couple's problems. I consider this a double-edged sword because I don't like to be involved in this, but when one or both of them talk to me about their problems, then I do what I can to help them. Usually, is just a bit of communication problems so is just about motivating each one to listen to each other. However, this has happened a few times already (I can easily recall 5 occasions on which this has happened in a one-year period), so I may have somewhat of a gift when it comes to listening to couples.

- As for fellow TPMers...

I like a lot Heald's honesty when it comes to posting in topics. I may react a bit angry at some of them, and at others, I may shout a big "I agree", but on most of his posts, he expresses his thoughts with sincere honesty. Of course, if he needs to apologize for something, he does. (I've seen that twice, I think)

I also like Mikachu's friendly attitude. He's usually befriending new people, talking with veterans and creating ideas with the purpose of making other members participate. It reminds me of Christen's (Number1ChanseyFan) positive attutide. I remember her Magenta posts with a smiley at the end.

Another one who makes me smile is Gavin Luper. Usuallly ending his posts with "Cheers", he like to encourage people to do things (mostly in Fanfic). And whenever they take that step forward, he's there to give feedback and to encourage them to keep up the good work.

Well, I have many more in mind, but I would also like to read what other people have to share, so I'll wait a bit until I comment again. So, do you have unnoticed virtues? Do fellow TPMers have unnoticed virtues?

[Magmar]

I suppose the virtue I have which I didn't really notice until someone very recently pointed it out, is that I'm apparently full of ambition. What feels ordinary to me, is perceived as extraordinary to others, especially professionals which is really helping me find the best jobs out there right now =)

[mattbcl]

I have overwhelming tenacity, and stick with things that retain my interest, even if I despise a majority of the elements of which they're comprised. With the exception of my superiors, every other co-worker I've ever had at my place of employment has come and gone. I play Rock Band with a monomaniacal, borderline obsessive-compulsive pursuit of perfection. I build and rebuild Yu-Gi-Oh! decks until they win consistently against the most difficult opposition. When I played saxophone in a jazz band and was told I wasn't good enough or experienced enough to have a solo part in a song, I went home and practiced (literally) a hundred different phrases and techniques - my lips were sore for a week. I take pride in folding each and every piece of my laundry. When I clean my kitchen, I only consider myself done when the room is spotless.

My parents and girlfriend were the ones who alerted me to the various above tales. I barely noticed myself doing any of this.

A virtue I've noticed in Brian (mr_pikachu) - and Becky, for that matter - is I've yet to see or hear them swear. Perhaps this is a by-product of what seems to be an extremely well-mannered nature either bred into or simply inherent in both of them, or perhaps it's some other element I've yet to note... but I like it. Although I'm embarrassed to admit I use them from time to time, I'm not a fan of swear words - I was raised on the belief that if you're using them, your vocabulary isn't wide enough.

That said, in spite of his occasional cursing, I appreciate Blademaster's bluntness. Too many people go around sugarcoating the truth. Blade seems to be all about letting them have it when it deserves to be had. And yet, buried within that gruffness is the proverbial diamond in the rough... an amazing and startling capacity to demonstrate the most heartfelt sentiments I've ever seen. I don't know about anyone else here, but when I see it, I'm caught off-guard. And I think being able to touch people in that way is also a virtue, and a rare quality, at that.

[mattbcl]

An addendum for my above opinions. It's taken a while for me to notice this, but now that I have, I feel it's worth commenting on: shazza's depth. Okay, so that might not quite seem like a compliment at first ("What, you mean you didn't think he was deep before?") but I've been spending some time trying to see past the superficial veneers that many tend to put up, intentionally or otherwise.

I recently noted shazza's participation in a very serious, profound, and thoughtful conversation in which he demonstrated a level of sincerity, eloquence, and honesty that I rarely find in most people I meet. Given that I'm so accustomed to his (genial) trolling, it was nearly jaw-dropping. It inspired me to change my own thinking and behavior, and that's also a rare occurrence. So here I am, remarking on it, and I'd like to thank him for it.

That be all.

[Drago]

Hear hear on shazza depth. He's an excellent mix of outwardly carefree and surprisingly introspective that makes his posts a pleasure to read.

[Becky]

Tough question. I'm not that great at picking out virtues, but I notice over the course of a semester the types of values my students hold-- consistently in classes, students who deliver outstanding presentations have tended to be the ones that dress up, attend all sessions, visit office hours, take good notes. I think that definetly speaks to their character. Likewise, there are those who don't necessarily go those extra miles, but who always participate, interact with their peers in discussions and make a good effort- so I think that says something similar. I'm not going to speculate on the lazy ones...

Matt, thanks for the nice compliment. :) That is something I didn't really notice.