I’m frustrated with society – or is it just my life? I know that I get a bit grumpy when I’m tired. Or when I’m hurting (Fibro-pain)…..and I have definitely been hurting this week. It’s been pretty bad, actually. And forgive me if something isn’t spelled correctly or my words get jumbled – that happens a lot with the Fibro-fog.
But I don’t think that the above-mentioned symptoms are the reason for my frustration of late. And I find myself extremely tired. No – not lack-of-sleep tired…..but rather tired of all of the complaining and nit-picking that people want to do. Yes, I know that many times it is as simple as removing oneself from a situation so as not to participate in all of the negativity…..but sometimes that is just not feasible.
All I know is that I am so very, very tired of everyone complaining. If you have followed my blog much – you know about my Fibromyalgia. Yes, I have it and yes, I am in pain – often. But I don’t go around whining and complaining to people about it all of the time. I mention it as it is part of who I am now. I deal with it and continue on in my life the best way I can. Sometimes I have to make adjustments to my plans or miss work due to it – I hate that…..but it is what I do in order to continue on in life. It is what it is.
Someone told me one time that they were amazed with everything I have been through in my life that I was not be a bitter person. And I remember my mother saying that she couldn’t understand why I wasn’t angry at my ex-husband (she was – very much so). I said to them and still tell people that I figure I have a choice here. I can choose to do the best with what I have and try to live a life of quality or I can wallow in self-pity about what I don’t have and be miserable. To me I don’t see a good reason to waste all of my energy hating and being angry or bitter about things I cannot control.
And sometimes, people – even if it could be changed, you have to look at whether it really is worth all of your time and energy. Is using up your resources really worth it in the long run? Will you be adding to your quality of life or taking away from it? Will your kids/loved ones be robbed of your time because you are so focused on the bad stuff? What about your health? If you stress over things long enough you develop serious health issues (I know this first-hand).
Let’s take a look at this Boston couple in the news right now who are fighting to have the Pledge of Allegiance taken out of the schools because it mentions God. They are claiming that they do not believe in God. And therefore if they say the Pledge – they are stating something they do not believe and if they choose not to say the Pledge then they ‘come across as’ not being patriotic. Regardless of where one stands on this debate I guess I don’t see why people can’t simply use their heads a little.
If the majority of people do want to say the Pledge and they do believe in God or at least it doesn’t bother them – then I wonder why one would think it is reasonable to waste their time, the court’s time, not to mention money to have something like this addressed? If it were me, I would say the line in the Pledge as follows: “And to the republic, for which it stands”, (pause – while everyone else says ‘one nation under God’), “indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.” You get the picture? I guarantee you that no one is going to notice that you took a breath or paused or whatever during that one little clause. Done. No anger, no fighting, no wasting resources on anyone’s part. Move on.
It seems like people are getting some sort of adrenaline rush by jumping on the bandwagon to accuse others of the tiniest things anymore. And I wonder why. It’s exhausting and honestly disheartening to me. Has it always been this way, I wonder? Maybe as young kids we just didn’t notice it? Or maybe we didn’t see things that way until others bring it to our attention….
I remember observing this with my own daughter when she was young. She met her best friend in preschool. And he is of a different race than she. But she didn’t know that – all she knew was that he was her best friend (and at 21 years of age now, they are still very close friends). It wasn’t until they had a teacher in the 1st grade that treated him differently that she asked me why.
And it doesn’t have to be a media issue either (though they certainly create a lot of it). How about the workplace? I’m SO very tired of people gossiping and stabbing each other in the back. Yes, there is always going to be that one person – that one person that you simply cannot like no matter what. But that’s okay – it is not part of your job description to like everyone. You were hired to do a specific job – and most likely that means dealing with a variety of people. So do it. It really is possible to be cordial to people that you don’t really care for, trust me.
I have even lost one of my best friends because I chose not to participate in her constant negativity and coworker bashing. If she complained or said something ugly, I would either try to change the subject or state that maybe the situation wasn’t as it appeared. It ticked her off. The final straw was when I was invited to church by a coworker that she despised. I accepted the invitation and was later told by my best friend that she simply could not ever ‘forgive me’ for betraying her. That ended a 12+ year friendship.
If you read any article these days – with the lovely ability to leave comments and most likely you will find some of the meanest, cruelest, ugliest comments. Many times it doesn’t even fit what the story was about. Example: I wanted to check out the story behind Google’s Doodle for the day. But rather than people finding the story interesting – they all jump on the bandwagon of criticizing one typo in the article. It’s one thing to critique and another to simply be ugly. So…making someone feel inferior gives people a rush, I guess? And we wonder why there are so many hate-crimes these days.
It’s like we can’t get away from it! It is everywhere……and this is why my family and I often joke around about heading for the hills…..to get away from all of the chaos. But I would challenge people to take a long hard look at their attitudes and the part they are playing in the big picture – because how can we expect our young people to be kind and to love one another when we are constantly bombarded with the opposite? When there are very few places to go to escape the ugliness it eventually rubs off on you.
Okay – so I can’t end this post without circling back around to say that though I am frustrated with society as a whole – I still have my eyes on my Savior and He allows me to see the good in people. And yes, there are a lot of good folks out there. And though it seems that the positive is being covered up by the negative, His light will always shine. He protects. And He blesses. All we have to do is claim Him as our own and invite Him into our lives.
Thanks for stopping by……Kelly.
Gratitude List (in no particular order):
1. I have a job – it pays the bills
2. My beautiful daughter & son-in-law
3. My super-awesome son
4. My Dad – who is always there no matter what
5. My Brother & his family – live so far away, but always near in my heart
6. God’s grace
7. Breathtaking sunrises
8. Nourishing rain
9. New Bible Study Group
10. My home – provides shelter that we need
Call Me the Clay 
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