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I've always believed that if you can't say anything nice, don't say it at all. I also believe that people who dwell in their own glass houses shouldn't throw stones because one of these days, that pretty home you've built for yourself will shatter into millions of pieces; hurting you as it crumbles to the ground. Nobody's life or current situation is ideal, so why snub your brown-nose up at those who are probably far richer and less stressed than those who have more 'stuff' than you? In today's world, people continually try and out beat you to the punch, thinking they're better than you, have more money and other expensive things and for what? It's not like you can take it with you when you leave this Earth. In these fast-paced times of iPods, high-speed internet and so much more, I think as a society, we've got a lot of things backwards.
Back when I was growing up in Western PA in the late 1980's, things were much more simple and care-free than today's generation has it. We played outside 80% of the time, not playing mindless video games all evening. Yeah, we played video games but nothing like today....remember Frogger!!? We also knew our place in society too. If an adult asked you to do something, you did it. Sure, you may have complained about it, but you did it anyway. Kids today have a total lack of disregard for any sort of respect for practically anyone but themselves IMO. We are so egocentric these days, it's disgusting. Our egos are like drug-dealers, constantly making exchanges with our conscience self and in the process, letting down everyone else. If you have a difficult choice to make, usually your ego tries to tempt you to go for the wrong choice. Saying things like, "Look at that cake, it's so much more tasty than that apple. Who cares about the fat and calories??" Your ego constantly hustles you into making wrong decisions and if you aren't strong-willed, you'll crash and burn into flaBrene Brown believes, and so do I, that we live in a culture of scarcity. The things that we have are just not good enough and on the same token, neither are we. You may be saying to yourself, "I don't know about you John, but I think I'm pretty amazing." Well, while you may be a great person to know, don't get too over the moos about yourself, you've got issues too Mary Poppins. Part of what makes you human is that you are in no way perfect and at the end of the day, would you really want to be? No problems to deal with, no challenges to face, etc? Sure it sounds good but if you had no obstacles to overcome, life would be meaningless. With the monotony of work this morning, the subject of age came up, as it sometimes does. The youngest member of my classroom team is turning 24 next month, 24! I can't even remember when I was 24 and that was only 7 years ago. Everybody was throwing around thoughts on important landmark birthdays they had. Another staff member had said she despises being in her early 50's. She said life was great up until 40 for her. Then it was also brought up that they only have another 20 or 30 years left, if they're lucky. REALLY!!?? By today's standards on aging, people are living a lot longer these than in previous generations. But the funny thing is that the more this conversation comes up, the same remarks also come up as well, "I wish I would've done more when I was younger" or "I needed to take better care of myself back then." This self-talk we have with ourselves is like pouring alcohol over a fresh wound, you tend to inflict more pain than need be. We're all guilty of doing it though. I think it's just our way of accepting the grim reality that each one of us faces our demise at one point or another, so we make nervous little jokes or self-actualizations about the end. Which is probably also the reason we stay so busy nowadays too. mes. Why are we like this so much? Vulnerability researcher
Anymore, people just seem to be on the go from the time they get up in the morning and their feet hit the floor until the time their head hits the pillow at night. And even then, our brains never stop thinking....thinking about what we have to do the next day at work, where they have to drop the kids off at and what to buy at the grocery store. I know myself that this is definitely the case for a good part of my week. I get up, go to work at my first job, leave work to go to either school for the evening or go train a few clients and run some assessments. It doesn't sound like much but believe me, it adds up! There are always going to be those individuals who enjoy being busy, caught up in the hustle of everyday work and meetings with friends and co-workers and such. But does it ever seem TOO much? The act of being busy isn't really so much a force of habit as it is a tool to protect ourselves, much like perfectionism. The basic reason that we stay so busy and making sure everything perfect all the time is that the business clouds everything else in our lives that isn't going the way we want it to or distorts relationships with loved ones that aren't working out so well. There comes a point though when you eventually run out of steam. When this happens, you have to swallow that big boy/girl pill, take a long, hard look at what's not working in your life and are forced to face it, head on. For some, this moment may be life changing and for others, not so much. But there's something here that no one really talks about and that is this: in previous blog entries, I've written about not being good enough. Never rich enough, educated enough, happy enough..... and one of the most important, never extraordinary enough. Staying busy all the prohibits us from taking a few moments out daily, to enjoy the ordinary moments of our because we are always searching for the extraordinary things. Things like nature, children, family, connection and play are the things that we should be focusing on but we're so afraid of being just 'ordinary', we're missing out on these. So when bad things happen, a death of a loved one for example, we tend to numb ourselves to the point of having a nervous breakdown because we've missed the opportunity to enjoy the company of others while they were here for us to enjoy. If you slow down your daily pace just enough to be able to see the world from a different vantage point in which you truly drink in every moment, I think you'll be pleased with the results that surface. 
The race that we all run isn't a race against time, it's one against ourselves. We are our own worst enemy, always trying to outwit ourselves and fool ourselves into thinking that we're really happy with all our stuff, which actually is baggage weighing us down. Once you let go of your fears and truly open yourself up to the possibility that life can be overwhelmingly awesome with the simplistic treasures you have right at your fingertips each day, you just have to open you eyes to find them. If each one of us can stand up and say to the world, "I am imperfect and I AM enough" imagine the synergistic and positive energy we could create and the goodness that could come from it. One of my favorite quotes from Lucy Maude Montgomery in Anne of Green Gables said:
"It's not what the world holds for you, it's what you bring to it."
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