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Doing Things You Just Don’t Want To Do…Still

Doing things you just don’t want to do…Still .What a prospect, what an observance.

Remember when you were a kid, it seemed everyone was telling you what to do. Every adult in your life, every older kid, in your world in your mind everyone. Did you hate it as much as I did, did those word, ” I’ll be so glad when I grow up….” and I will not finish the sentence because you can fill it in for yourself. The trouble is at the time as now one did not realize that the mere fact that you were grown up was not going to fix the dilemma.

As all of us do, I have a vice or two. I battle with these vices from a worldly and Christian standpoint. My faith would tell me to rise above these evil weaknesses. Yet, the worldly being says otherwise. The fact that the vices are a part of me tells me I have not quiet achieved the desired result, my sought after station in my beliefs. However, I handle my vices so that they do not handle and dictate me.

There I was exhausted, feed-up, angry. I wasn’t able to sleep, because I do not know how to relax. The one alcoholic beverage I do enjoy the taste of sits atop my bar. I wanted to do a piece and name it in honor of that beverage. I had a catchy title too, but I did not want to take that drink. My favorite drink, my vice would not be something I indulged in when I did not feel good. There have been more than one occasion over the past few years that have made me think about it, but up until today I held my ground. I took that one drink and at first it was rather nasty, then I decided to use it as I wrote. For as much as I want to say I did something I did not want to do( drink when I was feeling bad) I also did something I wanted to do( I wanted to take that shot of tequila).  I did not drink it in hopes of feeling better, I did not take it to solve my problems, I did not take it so I could forget or at least cope, I drank that tequila because I like the way tequila tastes and I had some available to taste.

The next time I am wallowing in how much I dislike doing things I don’t want to do, I will remind myself that there are a few things I do because I do in fact want to, and sometimes I distort and disguise them to look like they are “my crosses to bear”.

The “Spoilers”

Inevitably, every season there are one or two teams with horrible records. They near the season’s end and what happens they must play a team with hopes of breaking records and/or chances to make it into the playoffs. Like clockwork they ruin that teams record for the season or eliminate them from the contention. What would we have them do? Just give up. That is not likely when sports, teams, etc. are involved. What happens when it is just individual people?

The individual “spoiler” is not as easy to spot. I venture to say in many cases they are not aware this is who they are. Time and opportunity will identify them, though. They often suffer from “foot-in-mouth” syndrome. The treatment is long and arduous, many aren’t ever cured. I, optimistically, believe there is a fix for the “spoilers”, but it takes a joint effort. The simple solution of course is to eliminate the problem., However, not unlike the sports, team, or even a bad ingredient in a recipe “spoiler”, the simple fix for the individual “spoiler” may not be that simple. People are so multi-facetted, eliminating someone from your life may create another problem. This may be why so many people stay in bad relationships and marriages.

All a”spoiler” needs is someone to bring the good out in them. A strong presence that can neutralize the quality in them that makes things go terribly wrong and/or fail. “Spoilers” need to be reminded that they can ruin something in an effort to be noticed, and if they use a little better judgment favorable results will occur. I listened to my all time favorite singer, Barbra Streisand doing a duet; it does not matter who she was singing with, her angelic voice inspired me here. “Barbra’s voice would complement a bullfrog” one of her many admirers noted. I totally agree. A tall order, but to the “spoilers” find your Barbra and you will be just fine.

Now This Is Scary

There is a bit of a monster in me. I don’t like to admit to, look at, or talk about it. I won’t say I would rather look at or identify other monsters, but I would be lying if I said I do not possess  the characteristic of this very same thing.

We all like to believe we are enlightened. We think we are modern, intelligent, but what about our moments that are not so flattering.. our” toothless times”.

For starters let’s take rural Mississippians, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Allen West, New York welfare leeches and Sarah Palin. They all share a  commonness I want to reveal. Serial stupidity. When we are angry when we are being just plain mean words like ignorant, dumb, stupid come pouring out of our mouths.  However, saying those words and living those words are very different. Here these examples readily demonstrate they don’t have to be angry or even agitated for their condition to rear it’s moronic head.

Whether it is accusing groups of individuals that one does not like of being communist, to stating you can relate to a said group because your ancestors had a relationship with this group in the MOST negative ugly way. Individuals suffering from serial stupidity often time do not realize they have the condition and furthermore they think something is terribly wrong with anyone who does not see things their way. They are entertaining and unpredictable; they are also NOT qualified to be in positions that affect other human beings, let alone an entire nation. Maybe they can all catch a ride on Newt’s spaceship, settle on the moon. Mitt can be king, Newt can be vice king and founder, Allen West can be head waiter and the Mississippi locals” can put their double-wides all over the moon.  Meanwhile Sarah Palin will tell them she can still see Russia from her new front yard.

All in all it reminds me of “Dark Shadows”. As a child I watched this daytime horror/drama series. I was often plagued with nightmares and fear. I, however, could not stay away from the television at 4:00 p.m. Now as a remake Tim Burton offers his take; and while the original creepy environment and backdrop are in tact, the main character is building up to be a rather comical clown type. This does not make me happy, although I am reserving judgement . Reserving that same judgement in connection with the cast of characters I mentioned earlier is not quite as easy. You see if you really look closely these folks have their degree of scary and we should all be aware of that.

It would not do for us to “tah-tah” them away only to have these people, these real life monsters emerge when we were not expecting them in a way we were not expecting them, simply because we did not take them seriously. Take heed folks; someone out there is watching, listening to, and believing them. We wouldn’t want to fall asleep and wake up to a horrifying administration in the White House.

Good Intentions

“The road to Hell is paved with them”. I consider myself someone who has a sense of humor.  I like some pretty crazy stuff and funny, like so many other human emotions/reactions, is subjective.

Awhile back I did a post called “I’m With Stupid”. It was heartfelt, I can attest that I undoubtedly had done something that made me reflect, just cannot remember what. Here I am again baring my soul, so to speak. It looks like I may need to revisit that post periodically.

I realize I am not alone. We are all teetering on the brink of insanity defined as “ doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” . I just want to know where  the exit door is to this particular ride. If you are asking yourself the same question then you need to examine and revisit some places too.

Without detail I want to share, we must be mindful with our words beyond just thinking; “How would I feel if ____ were said about me..”, we must bother to personalize it to “How would ______ feel if they knew I said this about them”. Humor at the expense of another is NOT funny. Admit it”quick wit” may not be something we have command over anymore. For we may be quick and we may be witty, but  the presentation of the two simultaneously could present a problem. No don’t walk on eggshells, no don’t take yourself too seriously; just slow down, reflect, and think. Slowing down should not be a problem for us. I know how much longer it takes me to do most everything nowadays.

Perhaps now, I can actually train my brain to take in a bit more of what my heart actually has to say. Stay Tuned…