hostility

What is it about our society that fills us all with such hostility? The mindsets that we are instilled with from birth tell us to “Get them before they get you” and “Don’t let anyone hold you back” and “Nice guys finish last.” Soon you start to believe what they tell you– that “I’m not going to let anyone tell me that they are better than me” and that “I’ve got to get to the top even if I have to climb over my peers to get there.” Somewhere along the way, the words “humility” and “compassion” become synonymous with “weakness” and “lack of self-confidence.” Instead of emotional and intellectual reassurance, children are simply told to “do better.”
I was listening to a faith-based radio broadcast this morning that was focused on affirmation of your spouse. (I was interested in the topic, but don’t ask me who was speaking or what author they were talking with–I’m terrible with names!) All the while they were diving deeply and truthfully into this rare topic, it was all I could do to keep from being defensive. We are wired to take offense at the mere mention of “roles” in a marriage. I kept waiting for them to use this word, but they never did. It struck me that I was waiting to be offended by something they said so that I could have an excuse to discredit and ignore the entire conversation. We don’t like to be told how we should do things and we SURE don’t want to be told that we are doing something incorrectly. I didn’t want to be pushed into being the stereotypical fluffy and overly-happy housewife that was at the door with pipe and slippers in hand, waiting anxiously for her bread-winner to walk through the door. “That’s not me,” I kept telling myself. I was becoming hostile at something that wasn’t even suggested.
No woman is going to admit out loud that she wants to be taken care of by her man. But she does. No man is going to admit that he needs to hear that he is doing a good job, because to do so would mean that he is admitting that he is actually unsure of himself. Our children can’t come to us with their emotions because we tell them to “toughen up.” So what have we created?
It strains the mind (and heart) to know that people search their whole lives on this earth for love and acceptance and some will never find it. We tell ourselves, “Carpe diem! Seize the day! Live is short!” and yet we are intimidated by the idea of telling people we care about them, regretting later that we didn’t. So we replace those feelings of inadequacy with feelings of hostility and bitterness, putting forth a “strong” front so that, at the very least, no one will dare question our real feelings. Are you truly happy if you can’t tell your spouse that you are scared of failing at your new job promotion? Are you insecure about your wife’s need to get a job but can’t tell her so, out of fear that she will think you are telling her to “stay in the kitchen?”
This garbage that society is feeding us isn’t making us stronger. It’s weakening us from the inside out.

Starving Children

You ask yourself, “How can a loving God exist when there is so much suffering in the world?”

There are starving children all over the world. Evil things happen every day. People are born on sidewalks, live on sidewalks, and die on sidewalks. These terrible things go on every day and God is the only one that is not powerless to stop them. Right? WRONG.
You ask, “How can God (if He exists) let these things go on?” Well, ask yourself the same question. “If I am a loving, caring, compassionate individual, how can I call myself such when I do nothing to stop hunger, nothing to stop homelessness, and nothing to stop violence?” Well, we all exist, and 99% of us do nothing.
God has equipped each of us to deal with worldly life. Some of us are gifted with compassion, some of us with intelligence, some of us with monetary wealth. If you are sitting at a computer and you’ve made it past “Starving Children,” you have been gifted with all three. Now, instead of saying to yourself, “I don’t believe that God exists because evil also exists,” stop passing the blame for your complacency. We have all committed acts of evil that we would rather not speak out loud, and we have no one to blame but ourselves. God also gifts us with the ability to make choices. We choose to commit acts of violence and evil as much as we choose to sit on our couch or at our computer and pretend to feel compassion for other people. Get up and do something for the world instead resting on your “deism” or “atheism” or “agnosticism” or “nihilism” or whatever else you label yourself so that you don’t have to feel guilty.

Missing winter. Already.

Yesterday, as I ran in the “heat” of the 70 degree weather and the sun was bearing down on me, I longed for winter again.
Somebody smack me to my senses.
That is all.
Used to disappointment yet?

Get Used to Disappointment

Well, as my first post, I should have something profound and life-changing to write about, right? Well, in regard to my first post (and many posts hereafter), please refer to my motto:
“Get used to disappointment.” –(movie title, anyone?)
Now really, it’s not my motto, but it’s a great disclaimer. It indicates straight away that you should in no way be impressed by what you should happen to read or what it would imply. It takes the pressure off you, the reader, and myself, the writer. I have now alleviated the expectation of something even remotely interesting or exciting or emotionally/intellectually deep in my life. By doing so, I have also enabled you to be pleasantly surprised, should you happen to find something of such value in the future.
Thanks for dropping by.