Welcome to the year of the rat! If you were born (as I was) in 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, or 2020, this is your year. If you follow the beliefs outlined in the Chinese zodiac, people born in a year of the rat have the following personality traits…

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Rats are said to be optimistic, energetic, likeable by all, clever, quick thinking, independent, creative, and successful, but content with living a quiet and peaceful life.

Those are great traits to possess, but what about the negative ones? After all, everyone has negative personality traits. I can think of a few I possess, like impatience, stubbornness and impulsiveness, although those are not included in the year of the rat list. Negative characteristics that are noted in further research on the subject are short-sighted, conservative, suspicious, no persistence and a little timid. I don’t believe many of those apply to this rat, although conservative might be considered. Depending of the situation.

I guess stubbornness and persistence are similar, with one a bit more aggressive than the other. Most people would probably rather be called persistent than stubborn. Does no persistence imply not stubborn? I like to think of myself as persistent, but do admit to being stubborn (sometime) too.

So, I will accept the list of positive characteristics assigned to the rat, but reject the negative ones. What’s that called? I’m sure it’s not positive.