Speak and Listen

Once upon a time there was a king, who had a daughter who was so difficult that no one could "målbinde" her .. This is the beginning of a fairytale found in the famous edition of Norwegian Folktales by Asbjornsen & Moe

I have tried to find a proper English word for "målbinde" but, alas, have not found it in any dictionary or on the Internet. In the fairytale, the princess is so stubborn, so strong-willed, so bright that no one is able to silence her, to get her attention, or create a situation where she does not know what to say.

Now, the love of my life is a lawyer. He is clever with words. I usually say he is a magician with words, and when he one time said I could "målbinde" him, it was a great compliment and sign of his affection for me. He is the greatest listener and interested in all the silly things I blabber about every day. I love him for that! And more than that, I admire him for that, as my mouth usually opens up whenever he's around, and out come all kinds of thoughts and ideas that are whirling around in my head.

I borrowed this comic from a page on the Net. So funny. She is not taking the situation seriously at all. But why should she? Her way might be cackling and her attire comfortable to her. 

Though in certain situations we need to conform to the surroundings, need to behave, need to pull ourselves together to- well, like in this situation - to save a life. She's obviously on trial for witchcraft and the future is probably not the brightest.

How can we pull ourselves together in situations in our lives and still hold on to our own personality and way of life? How can we speak the truth and still be kind? How can we be ourselves and survive?