Someone after my own heart

Hello my dear friends,

Where, or where, did the time go? Today I celebrate the 30th blog post on this site. Eat a cupcake for me, will you? If you’re being health conscious just close your eyes and bite into an airy one. You’ll find it tastes surprisingly similar to an actual one. Don’t believe me? Try! Not the real McCoy? Try harder!

I’ve been collecting a growing list of idioms and words that stand out, and as fast as I write a blog post, another idiom or word pops up even faster. I currently have a long enough list to last me till the 40th 42nd blog post, just FYI.

But without further ado, let’s get on with today’s lovely list.

Second nature

If something comes second nature to you it….

a) Comes intuitively

b) Comes when nature calls (and second being number 2, well…)

c) Comes when you are out in nature for a split second

d) Dunno

Well, if you really “dunno”, I can’t fault you for being wrong on that one, but that still doesn’t point us in the direction of the answer.

In a nutshell, “a” is the right answer. If something comes second nature, it comes intuitively, easily.

What sort of situations can we refer to?

That boy? Soccer? (snort) It comes second nature to him. He could play in his sleep.

Well, sonny boy, I wouldn’t say chess always came second nature to me. But after 50 years of playing, yup, you could say it is second nature to me now. Wanna play?

Someone after his own heart

Don’t worry, ominous as this one might sound, no one is actually after your heart. Not physically or emotionally or anything like that. Your heart is your own.

But, if you like something, have an interest in or passion about something, and you find that someone else does too, you would be liable to say: Ah, that’s someone after my own heart.

Simply put, you bend your energies in the same direction.

You might both like music or appreciate the same sort of art or have a penchant for swimming at dawn (hey, why not?) or collect obscure stamps. Never mind the subject itself – so long as someone is into what you are too, that qualifies them as being “someone after your own heart”.

So, use it every day.

Ah, there goes someone after my own heart.

I see that’s someone after your own heart, huh?

That’s someone after her own heart if I’ve ever seen one.

Strike while the iron is hot

Right, because you would never want to strike while it’s cold, would you?

Sarcastic comment aside, what’s it all about?

Think of a blacksmith working in a smithy. They work with metals including iron. Once the iron is hot enough to melt, you can shape it any way you like: a horseshoe, a bar, a ring, etc. So you strike it or mould it when it’s hot. It wouldn’t work if the iron is cold. Then it would be… hard as iron.

That’s the literal meaning of “strike while the iron is hot”. It’s just something you do. Like “mow the grass when it’s long” – said no one ever, so it’s not yet an expression and likely won’t be any time soon.

Applying it to a situation, we want to take advantage (not in a bad way) and press forward. Let’s say you are trying to build team spirit. You’ve worked hard, rallied your team around, and they are finally keen and gung ho and all that. So… you need to strike while the iron is hot. While their enthusiasm is still high, you need to start whatever big project you had in mind: create a new product, gang up on your boss, or rob a bank. Uhhh.

Because come next week, your team is likely to get cold feet (especially where the last two options are concerned).

Ok, let’s examine safer choices.

You wheedle your mom, get her in a good mood, and then, striking while the iron is hot, you ask for: $1000, a night out on the town, your own apartment.

Or you’ve finally convinced your buddies to go camping. Normally being couch potatoes, you know you’ve got to press your advantage, pack a tent and all your supplies, strap your friends inside (or onto the car roof), and start driving before they’ve quite realized what it is they’ve agreed to. Strike while the iron is hot.

Write in the comments in this week and let me know:

1) What comes second nature to you

2) Who is after your own heart

3) How you struck while the iron was hot

Have yourselves a good week, and catch you when I catch you.

PerfectlyWriteKids.com

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