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How do you relate to Sherlock (the series)?


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It is mentioned here and there; that Sherlock is relatable on personal level, it makes us feel the way not many other series ever do. That's why this show is special and addictive.

 

How do you actually relate to Sherlock?

 

One of mine is definitely Redbeard.

Long time ago, we had to put down a dog; she was accidentally hit by a car, lying there on the concrete, bleeding from the head, unresponsive, eyes closed, with intermittent breaths and twitches.

The vet advised us to put her down because of irrecoverable brain damage. Twenty years on, I remember every single detail until now; chronology, position, the look, and even the spot patterns of the dog.

 

Death, heartbreak, can’t do what Moriarty suggests, always feel it and still always fear it.

 

Another one, sometimes, like last week, like John always scolds Sherlock, I find it difficult to really empathize with others.

One of my coworker was crying, quite badly, another person had noticed and already trying to comfort her, but I just sat in my place doing nothing.

 

First, it’s same old story about her feeling unappreciated and treated unfairly by certain people in office. Voluntary I have done what I could within my position and influence to help her, but to achieve actual solution she has to step up herself, which I have been trying to encourage for a while now.

 

Second, if I ever cry in public, which so far I don’t, I’d rather that people leave me alone than trying to comfort me. I am aware that others may have different preferences, but what I can do is offering solutions, which has been done many times.

 

It’s been told that I’m a good listener and friends confide in me, but they come to me for objective inputs not for sympathy because I’m not capable of offering kind words, same reason why I was sitting in my place instead of going to comfort her, which I probably should because we are the only females here. However, someone was already there, and does comforting her solve her problem? No. Taking action does, which is what I have been doing, but I can only do so much. Tbh, sometimes I said it, that instead of crying she should go and kick some a**es/be more proactive to solve her situation.

 

I do understand that sometimes empathy is what she needs, not always solution. But since I can’t provide comforting words anyway, there is no use for me trying; it would be terrible string of useless rehearsed words. I tried to be sympathetic listener back then, but it’s been so many, too many times it has reduced my sympathy to almost zero. Maybe that would make John screams at me. I don’t know. I think don't really care anymore.

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I'm a Molly/Sherlock hybrid with a touch of John. I tend to be quiet (shy introvert), stumble over my words, not always get someone's emotional body language until after the fact (possible high-functioning ASD but not diagnosed) even though I tend to notice when someone is upset/sad (Molly in TRF). And I can be stubborn at times some of them are very Sherlock in nature but occasionally they are more John like (for the other person's own good & mine not just because like Sherlock). Finally there's all stuff the goes through my head and rarely comes out that if it did would be a lot like Sherlock, somewhat dark but out of curiosity more than actual Moriarty derangement.

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Pest of a younger sibling, complete with the poisonous envy for big sister. The difference with Mycroft is, I don't coddle her/him. It is either grow up and learn when you still have family-based safety net or suffer the consequences years later. Yep, definitely not 'a smashing big sister'. Sherlock is lucky to have Mycroft instead of me but my way is better in the long run. :p

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Hmmm.
 
I think a lot of the ways I relate may be just my personal perception of Sherlock, not necessarily how he actually is. But here goes:
 
I feel somewhat ostracized for being intellectual. Well, maybe ostracized is too strong a word, but I've always felt that my particular brand of intellect has put me mostly on the outside of society looking in. I'm not saying I'm smarter than other people ... it's just that I'm interested in talking about things like subtext and politics and philosophy and such. And most people I know are interested in talking about their job, their kids and their spouses, and sort of roll their eyes if I go off on one of my egghead topics. I'm used to the weird looks I get from people when I say something "book-learned", and even have learned to enjoy it -- sometimes I'll say something "smart" just to get a reaction from them! :smile: But I still feel like I'm an outside observer, not part of the pack. Nor do I want to be part of the pack.
 
I still manage to have friends, though. But like Sherlock, my circle is small and exclusive.
 
Also ... I'm a lot shyer, more sensitive, and less confident than people seem to think I am. Does that make me a good actor? :P Also most people seem to think I'm very patient (ha!) and far too modest (I'm really not. :D )
 
I have pesky older siblings.
 
Introverted and intuitive, but with a heaping dose of analytic rigor.
 
I'm fairly precise with my vocabulary.
 
I veer between being terminally lazy and working myself to death.

That’s enough to be going on with, don’t you think? Afternoon!

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I like your Sherlock styled reply Arcadia.  Totally fitting.

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Like Arcadia, I am also a Sherlock (with Irene Adler's fashion sensibilities, thankyouverymuch  ;) ).  I get going on a topic that excited me intellectually, and I can't "downshift" verbally, so I find myself vomiting forth polysyllabic words.  People don't understand, either intellectually or viscerally, what I'm talking about.  If I'm really in the middle of something good, I find I don't really care all that much whether they do or don't.  (Unlike Sherlock, I have lots of times in my life in which  making myself understood is important, so I know how to do that if I take a deep breath first.)

 

I've also definitely been ostracized for being intelligent.  I was told throughout school that smart girls weren't supposed to like: boys, dancing, flowers, makeup, music, roller skating, and a ton of other things that I either can't remember right now or have purposely repressed.  I grew past that, but it leaves a bit of a scar on your psyche where, again, you find yourself not really caring what other people think of you because there's a decent chance they'll call you a freak.  Unlike Sherlock, I trained myself to not reflexively expect that, but man, I know what he's feeling in that regard.

 

Although I love Irene's style and that would probably be my "dress" style, I identify with the Holmesian "quiet primness of dress," if I have the ACD quote right.  Like Sherlock, I've decided what sort of appearance will get me where I need to be in human interactions, and I hate to deviate from my own expectations of what is proper.  I don't exactly wear a suit every day, but I do do full hair and makeup to even go just to Wal-Mart.  

 

I identify with Sherlock's approach to relationships.  I don't have a ton of close friends, but then again, I don't use the word "friend" promiscuously; if I call you a "friend," that's probably a permanent promotion in my mind to a level of closeness that I don't expect the majority of people to attain in my life.  If you are a friend, I will walk through fire for you.  

 

ETA:  Finally, I have an eidetic memory and I have a mind palace of sorts, although mine looks much more like CAM's.

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Now I'm a bit frightened! :D

 

Just adding: I'm very Molly Hooper-ish when around men I find attractive. Brain just turns to mush. Annoying trait.

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Oh gosh, I find so much relatable in this series... The relationship between Sherlock and John, for example. I've been a Watson to a genius (in some degree still am). Though in general, I identify more with Sherlock than with John. I'm not clever and certainly not lacking in empathy, but I do think I'm hypersensitive, hyper-aware of my surroundings sometimes, and I really really wish I could shut my emotions down sometimes, or just leave them at home, which I suspect is what Sherlock has succeeded in doing, he's not unemotional by nature. I relate to Sherlock also because I think my occupation is in many ways similar to his (I am not a detective, but still), and requires similar skills and peculiarities and I am confronted with tragedy and death and human suffering on a daily basis. To some degree, at work, Sherlock is even kind of a role-model (minus the rudeness, though, but Sherlock says many things I think and would never dare to utter).

 

Also the way the series deals with love and friendship and human relationships in general... I don't know, it just rings more true to me than most other films or series.

 

And then there's Molly. I think Molly is the closest to "me" that any fictional character ever was. Change her looks and give her a little of Sherlock's snark and the fanciful, romantic streak of Anne of Green Gables plus some of the stubborn loyalty of John Watson and Sam from Lord of the Rings, and I think you'd get me, more or less.

 

There's loads more. Be prepared for me boring everybody out of their minds by further elaborating on this subject in the future.

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For me, it's being treated as the idiot of the family even though I have been tested to have a very high IQ. I have friends but sometimes I find it difficult to feel a deep connection but I have built walls and as much as I would like to undo some of that I find it hurts less if I leave it in place. I am a people watcher, I like to analyze situations though I have been told that I am very empathetic, I find it difficult to act on it.

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For me, it's being treated as the idiot of them family even though I have been tested to have a very high IQ. I have friends but sometimes I find it difficult to feel a deep connection but I have built walls and as much as I would like to undo some of that I find it hurts less if I leave it in place. I am a people watcher, I like to analyze situations though I have been told that I am very empathetic, I find it difficult to act on it.

 

My IQ is untested but I find myself in a similar boat.  You are not alone Fox.

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I know I'm not. At least on an intellectual level. But sometimes i just wish that I wasn't quite so rural and isolated. But being part of an acting company has helped a lot as has being active on the internet and this Forum especially has been a real blessing.

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No wonder that in ShadowDweller's series of quizzes I ended up as Basil Rathbone or our Sherlock, or Sherlock's lady!

Only child of doting parents, Mum a paediatrician/child psychiatrist, Dad an orthopaedic surgeon ( must have mentioned having my own skull to bring to class somewhere in this forum), was MENSA-tested at age five, scored 163, but that's just schoolroom intelligence, not emotional intelligence.

I cram every bit of information I come across into my mind, I don't believe the brain is a hard drive with limited space, it's more of a plasma computer with infinitely expanding walls, and very clear recall, which comes in handy because I can find whatever item I want when I want it. Prone to untidiness, but cannot indulge in it for the sake of the children.

Introverted to the nth degree, cannot suffer fools gladly to save my life, have got exactly five close friends, carefully cultivated over the years, observant but not loose-lipped, detest gossip in any form. Grammar police fanatic, I keep editing my writing not only in RL but even in posts in this forum.

Never having had an older sibling ( Mum suffered a miscarriage), I would probably have devised the perfect murder to get rid of an older sibling like Mycroft (they would never have found the body ^_^ ).

Sociable at work, but bossy and not easily approachable (criticisms by colleagues, sticks and stones), absolutely determined to get things done my way or not at all, easily bored but able to hide the feeling, always striving for perfection, much more stubborn than Sherlock, but will do absolutely anything within my power to help family and friends. Impatient with lots of personal quirks, including industrial-strength self-doubt and anxiety over results.

A Wagner, Rimsky-Korsakov, Mozart and Verdi opera fan, Russian 19th century literature buff, but not all of it, crossword and cryptogram lover, definitely a cat person.

Since I have to work in a team, like it or lump it, I have learned to put up with the John Watsons, Dimmocks and Andersons of this world, but that doesn't necessarily mean I would hang out socially with them.

No particular fashion sense, "primness of dress" required by my job, so I shop online, because window shopping and spending more time than absolutely necessary in any shop is torture, trust a few brands and almost never experiment.

That's enough to be going on with, laters! :smile:

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That's five people who had confessed that they feel like on a different wavelength from the rest of their environment.

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That's five people who had confessed that they feel like on a different wavelength from the rest of their environment.

 

Isn't everyone on a different wavelength, though? Honestly, I have never heard anyone say they felt very connected to the people around them. We're all different - and in our society, which is pretty individualistic, it's even cool to be different.

 

That said, of course Sherlock will appeal to anyone who has felt out of place. Almost all the recurring characters are extraordinary in some way and the main character seems like he came to earth from another planet sometimes.

 

I am sure he resonates a lot with people who are highly intelligent but haven't always been recognized as such. That's not a problem I have because my intelligence is perfectly average. Sherlock would hate me. :lol:

 

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Sherlock, defined his self-esteem on his intelligence and very much craving acknowledgement from the rest of the 'unwashed masses'. That's appealing to anyone who felt out of place? Certainly not.

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I tend to be quiet (shy introvert), stumble over my words, not always get someone's emotional body language until after the fact (possible high-functioning ASD but not diagnosed) even though I tend to notice when someone is upset/sad (Molly in TRF).

 

ASD is much more common than I thought originally. I have limited knowledge, I believe that there are degree of it and many people can function perfectly (high functioning like you say)

 

Sherlock is lucky to have Mycroft instead of me but my way is better in the long run. :p

 

:)

I am on the side that think Mycroft is good big brother although I don't necessary agree with his ways. But I'm with you in ways I educate my siblings.

 

 

Hmmm.

 

I'm not saying I'm smarter than other people ... it's just that I'm interested in talking about things like subtext and politics and philosophy and such. And most people I know are interested in talking about their job, their kids and their spouses, and sort of roll their eyes if I go off on one of my egghead topics. I'm used to the weird looks I get from people when I say something "book-learned", and even have learned to enjoy it --

 

I feel you. Have trouble remembering people's kids. I don't even remember gender and quantity, let alone names and faces. After they talk about all those; jobs, babies, husbands, I would blurt out,"so, now that artificial inteligence is getting more sophisticated, do you think one day robots will take over humanity?

 

I veer between being terminally lazy and working myself to death.

Ditto to that..

 

Finally, I have an eidetic memory and I have a mind palace of sorts, although mine looks much more like CAM's.

That is interesting, and great.

I think I have some sort of Mind Palace but I'm too impatient to access it like how Sherlock and Magnussen do. It's more suitable to be called Scatterbrained. However, I do have mysterious secret folder. Sometimes I forget something completely, without a trace of anything, while I remember others things in every details, it gets annoying and worrisome sometimes.

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I relate to Sherlock also because I think my occupation is in many ways similar to his (I am not a detective, but still), and requires similar skills and peculiarities and I am confronted with tragedy and death and human suffering on a daily basis.

 

Hats off. Hope you have found special way to cope. I have a friend who dealt with, like what you describe; tragedy, death and human suffering on daily basis. After many years, she almost fell into depression and

had to quit the job to keep her sanity, her words.

 

I have friends but sometimes I find it difficult to feel a deep connection but I have built walls and as much as I would like to undo some of that I find it hurts less if I leave it in place.

Similar here.. walls that difficult to enter but once you are in, it's strong. I like to think that it's not necessary bad. Can never understand extrovert acquaintances

who best friends to anyone (but no one) and qualifies you in their inner circle just because you happen to hang out together (most not voluntary circumstances) couple of times.

 

No particular fashion sense, "primness of dress" required by my job, so I shop online, because window shopping and spending more time than absolutely necessary in any shop is torture, trust a few brands and almost never experiment.

 

Same here. For fashion, I take one look and go out because I know exactly what I want. Unless I purposely need something, it would be a pain. My friends 'booked' me in advance months to years before wedding because they know I dresses are out of my normal world.
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Seven if you haven't counted me. Weird, quirky are some of the way people describe me, even relatives. But I don't mind actually, in fact, being different kind of make me feel special. (And I enjoy it when someone is surprised that I don't feel insulted when they say that, fortunately, I think, most didn't say it as insult).

 

Anyway, another quite embarrassing to admit, and maybe despised like what I read here in SIB, I relate with Sherlock when he was being unsensitive to Molly in Christmas scene.

 

I like to think I am good in reading people feelings, but when it's about people's feelings for me, I am the biggest clot.

 

So this guy, a very good friend of mine, was buying a cassete (that time) a nice song about someone who had difficulty expressing their feeling (duh). He had been telling me about the person for sometimes, and asked me if I thought it's a suitable gift to let her know how he feels. I shrugged, maybe, don't know her so I don't know for sure. So on Christmas we met up to hang out with some other friends as well and he gave me a present (that doesn't look like that cassete, I'm not that clot :)). To my defense, I asked him privately, and kind of teasing him about the possibility of great future relationship with that person. It's not the habit to open present on spot, so yeah, I found out it's the cassete and the confession later that night. Worst, it's not feeling that I share, things got really awkward for a while, but we get back and remains good friend until now to his credit.

 

There are other similar situation where I failed to interpret people's feeling and screwed up a lot, yet I never get better in that area.

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That's five people who had confessed that they feel like on a different wavelength from the rest of their environment.

 

Isn't everyone on a different wavelength, though? Honestly, I have never heard anyone say they felt very connected to the people around them. We're all different - and in our society, which is pretty individualistic, it's even cool to be different.

 

Six.

Everyone might be on a different wavelength, but either they don't notice or aren't bothered by that.

We are (painfully) aware of it almost all the time.

 I've wondered about that ... I see people who seem comfortable in any situation, blend in with the people around them (in a good way), able to engage in the conversation of the moment, who know what's appropriate to wear and when ... and I think that's normal, and I'm the oddball. But do they think they're normal? Or are they just as insecure as I am? :P It's hard for me to know because I tend to avoid people like that and instinctively seek out the other "oddballs."

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Dear Arcadia, "oddball" is the defining quality of any Sherlock Holmes fan, and I mean ACD canon, not simply the latest in TV smash hits! :D

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Hmmm.

 

I'm not saying I'm smarter than other people ... it's just that I'm interested in talking about things like subtext and politics and philosophy and such. And most people I know are interested in talking about their job, their kids and their spouses, and sort of roll their eyes if I go off on one of my egghead topics. I'm used to the weird looks I get from people when I say something "book-learned", and even have learned to enjoy it --

I feel you. Have trouble remembering people's kids. I don't even remember gender and quantity, let alone names and faces. After they talk about all those; jobs, babies, husbands, I would blurt out,"so, now that artificial inteligence is getting more sophisticated, do you think one day robots will take over humanity?

 

I hate small talk. If someone really has something to say about their job or their family, or just their last trip to the supermarket, something that comes from the heart and isn't just blabbered into the air to keep a pointless conversation going, that's fine with me, though. I don't mind "mundane" subjects or chatting, I just don't like interaction with other people that is insincere and meaningless. I also hate it when people just agree with everything you say no matter what their real opinions on the matter are.

 

 

I relate to Sherlock also because I think my occupation is in many ways similar to his (I am not a detective, but still), and requires similar skills and peculiarities and I am confronted with tragedy and death and human suffering on a daily basis.

Hats off. Hope you have found special way to cope. I have a friend who dealt with, like what you describe; tragedy, death and human suffering on daily basis. After many years, she almost fell into depression and

had to quit the job to keep her sanity, her words.

 

I don't think I was ever sane... But yeah, some days are tough. And sometimes things get to me. But in general, I have developed a level of tolerance to the horrible, the sad, the gory, the absurd and the tragic that is commonly found in doctors, nurses, pathologists, therapists, firemen, policemen, soldiers, certain types of journalists etc but that comes across as callous to "normal" people. I relate to Sherlock, John, Lestrade and Molly standing around a body. (I'd probably be the one who says "poor bugger" like Greg, though). I very much relate to the conversation Sherlock and John have in The Great Game about crying at people's bedsides. It's true. I'm not saying compassion has no value (that would be false), but in order to be of some actual use, you have to give up a part of your humanity and manage your emotions in ways that are not generally required.

 

 I've wondered about that ... I see people who seem comfortable in any situation, blend in with the people around them (in a good way), able to engage in the conversation of the moment, who know what's appropriate to wear and when ... and I think that's normal, and I'm the oddball. But do they think they're normal? Or are they just as insecure as I am? :P

 

My suspicion is that more people are insecure and feel as if they don't quite fit in than it seems on the surface. But who knows. Maybe the majority are just as vapid and boring as they seem. :P

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I tend to be quiet (shy introvert), stumble over my words, not always get someone's emotional body language until after the fact (possible high-functioning ASD but not diagnosed) even though I tend to notice when someone is upset/sad (Molly in TRF).

ASD is much more common than I thought originally. I have limited knowledge, I believe that there are degree of it and many people can function perfectly (high functioning like you say)

 

 

Finally, I have an eidetic memory and I have a mind palace of sorts, although mine looks much more like CAM's.

That is interesting, and great.

I think I have some sort of Mind Palace but I'm too impatient to access it like how Sherlock and Magnussen do. It's more suitable to be called Scatterbrained. However, I do have mysterious secret folder. Sometimes I forget something completely, without a trace of anything, while I remember others things in every details, it gets annoying and worrisome sometimes.

 

 

My son, Johnspec, is high-functioning ASD.  Sometimes ASD is genetic, sometimes not.  I saw the check list for ASD when my son was first diagnosed and determined that it was likely genetic as my dad and I both have most of the symptoms.

 

 

Also I'm like you with the memory & that mysterious secret folder where I can forget things completely & remember others in extreme details (my first memory is from the age of 2 & I remember 4 parts of that day in vivid detail).

 

 

I have friends but sometimes I find it difficult to feel a deep connection but I have built walls and as much as I would like to undo some of that I find it hurts less if I leave it in place.

Similar here.. walls that difficult to enter but once you are in, it's strong. I like to think that it's not necessary bad. Can never understand extrovert acquaintances

who best friends to anyone (but no one) and qualifies you in their inner circle just because you happen to hang out together (most not voluntary circumstances) couple of times.

 

No particular fashion sense, "primness of dress" required by my job, so I shop online, because window shopping and spending more time than absolutely necessary in any shop is torture, trust a few brands and almost never experiment.

Same here. For fashion, I take one look and go out because I know exactly what I want. Unless I purposely need something, it would be a pain. My friends 'booked' me in advance months to years before wedding because they know I dresses are out of my normal world.

 

Ditto the friends & clothing.  Not many deep friendships (I'd consider most of them shallow even of those close to me) and I wear jeans & a t-shirt most days of the week.  I do have dress/business clothes but generally don't wear them unless I need to or the rare occasion that I want to.

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You lucky thing, SherlockedCamper! I'm seldom out of what could be termed 'casual chic', so lots of dresses, no frills, hated them as a girl, loathe them as a 'grownup', lots of tailored suits with an understated shirt or blouse, my favourites being Fink Modell; in fact, think Sherlock as a female, you get the look! Except I adore camel hair coats and Cartier square scarves!

Did I mention the monumental ego and the intellectual arrogance? Dear Arcadia is wrong to think that as an intellectual SHE is the odd one out: the rest are average, boring, mundane, pedestrian, banal ordinary people! ^_^

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Something I don't really relate to with Sherlock is how he suffers from boredom and needs a lot of external stimulation and excitement to be content and functional. I am the exact opposite, I am never bored and I need a lot of peace and quiet and a ton of routines and rituals and backup systems and plans b, c, d, e and f to not implode with anxiety.

 

Also, I feel a bit uncomfortable with looking down on other people who are less brilliant. Mycroft's comment about "goldfish" isn't even very funny to me. Intelligence doesn't equal worth. Magnussen and Moriarty are probably geniuses too - that doesn't make me want to have anything to do with them. Fortunately, Sherlock's attitude here is more complex than his brother's. I love how he slowly comes to realize that "his people" (i.e. Moriarty and his big brother) aren't the best company after all and that his best allies are found among the "ordinary". It's really endearing how he responds to Mrs Hudson. She annoys the heck out of him because she's on such a different wavelength, but she is the one woman whom even in series 1 he voluntarily hugs and kisses and he throws a man out of the window for hurting her.

 

Intelligence is like beauty, if you ask me. Some people are born with it, and some are not. It can be improved with effort, but only to a certain extent. It is sexy and fascinating. It's a gift from nature (or from your deity of choice), though, not a personal achievement, so my admiration and respect is based more on what people do with it than how much they were given.

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