Along the way there…

Just a quick observation about the state of american society these days.

A friend and I recently had a conversation regarding youth these days.  Where do the columbines, Virginia Techs and other youth violence come from?

How did we get to the point of believing that we have a constitutional right not to be offended and why do we harbor such fears of offending others?

How did we begin sliding down the slippery slope of an obesity epidemic in america and watching our health decline while desparately grasping for that ever elusive ‘quick fix’?

How did we become such a ‘drive-thru’ society?

My conclusion?  We are not teaching our kids some of life’s universal truths and instilling the values needed to adapt to adult life.  So for those of you who missed the part of life known as ‘growing up’, here is a brief recap of somethings that you CAN NOT CHANGE and will need to learn to adapt to and live with:

1. Sometimes it IS your fault

2. Not everyone is going to like you

3. It is NOT your job to make everyone like you nor to like everyone YOU meet.

4. You will NOT always get picked for the team

5. you WILL get picked on

6. Sometimes you will give your all and it simply will not be enough.

7. You will have to EARN everything worth having in life

8. Not every dream comes true

9. You do NOT have the right not to be offended in fact, you can pretty much count on running into things/people/ideas that straight piss you off

10. You will NOT see results immediately

11. You will have your heart broken

12. You will have to take the bad in life right along with the good

13. No one is exempt from life’s truths

Just some random thoughts for a wednesday evening.  Not learning the harder lessons in life only leaves us in a weak and vunerable state later on when we have no choice but to face them.  If we all took the time to accept these things maybe getting picked on would not be a reason for murder.

Maybe we’d be open, honest, strong, commited individuals capable of achieving the 10% of our dreams that CAN come true.  The 10% is rare but that is after all, what makes them worth dreaming.

Just my take

Dave

So, I was in the middle of another one of my desert ponderings earlier and a few small epiphanies came to me.

1. Everybody is an expert on everything.  Yep, it’s the only logical answer for why everyone is convinced that they are the utmost authority in whatever you happen to be doing at the moment and why everybody always seems to know the ‘right way’ to do everything.

2. Camel  spiders are not as social or cuddly as they appear.

3. People never get what they ‘deserve’.  The ones that have it don’t deserve it and the ones that deserve it don’t have it. 

4. The greatest way to appreciate something is to give it up for a time.

5. I appreciate women, beer, hot showers, my own damn bed and styrofoam (I don’t want to talk about it).

6. Having a cool sounding screen name or sign off does not increase the weight you can lift or the shape you are in…usually

7. If people were as eager to make friends in the real world as they are online, society would be better off…and we’d all walk up to strangers just to make a random ‘comment’ and then walk away….I just think that part would be cool.

8. Part of what makes people so exciting is that we rarely think about what we say before it comes out of our mouths.

9. I’m glad I’m not an octopus.

10. If you are concerned about your health and appearance, you’re vain, if you don’t you’re a slob.  The trick is for all of us to never let on that we all secretly desire to be a better and more balanced individual in every respect.

Just my take,

Dave