I do not think of it as a mid-life crisis. I think of it as a semi-mid-life review.
Is the world crazy? Am I?
Lately, I get so sad when I hear about all the tragedies around us. The child molestation cases, the missing babies, the murder suicides, the mindless and horrible acts of violence against one another. And when I say sad, I don’t mean I dwell for a few minutes, remind myself how lucky I am and move along with my day. I get SAD.
What’s happening, people? Where is the humanity? The compassion? The simple acknowledgement that we are human, children need to be nurtured, and forgiveness should be one of the first lessons taught and one to repeatedly be practiced?
By no means do I succeed daily, but as I age, and as my children age and change almost by the minute, I reflect. Isn’t that part of our moral and human duty? To reflect and learn? Why do so many people wake up each day, and continue to live so selfishly, and with such little purpose beyond themselves?
The larger picture is being overlooked. It’s bigger than us. Every day, life is bigger than we are as individuals, bigger than our individual joys and sorrows, our individual successes and failures. It’s bigger because we are a collective whole that needs to hold one another accountable.
And there needs to be a distinction made between finger pointing and holding others accountable. It’s fine, sometimes, this distinction, but important. Too often we think we’re making sure others know what their responsibilities are by pointing fingers at them when they fail to uphold it. This is not the same as holding someone accountable. Pointing out failures and placing blame (whether accurate or not) is not the same as uplifting a fellow man and steering them to what is the right action, the moral choice, the responsible standard to which he should hold himself.
We need to be less afraid of offending our family and our friends.
We need to be stronger in our convictions about what is right and wrong as a people, and not allow the mentality “what is right for one is not necessarily right for another” to invade every single action.
We need to care again.
7 comments:
Hmmm.
I agree that we need to stand up for what we believe is right and wrong... Especially with the latest round of ridiculousness at Penn State.
But I guess when I think of people that are very strong in their convictions, it's sometimes those that I find misguided. Like, for example, the political arena. We need to be strong in our convictions while still being open to dialogue. If that makes any sense.
Because lots of people have strong convictions about taxes and social liberties (i.e. same sex marriage) but they are not really open to different views.
This is a breath of fresh air...
...the hatred being spued by the ramble with the flaming torches that can not or will not wait the justice system to determine the so-called "Truth" frightens me... and it serves no good purpose.
A.men!
I think our 'it's all about me' attitude as a society (world?) and our fear of offending someone has brought much more harm than good.
You are not going crazy, you are saner than most - sometimes it hurts like hell to see all of the pain we (in general) inflict upon one another.
I personally think finger pointing is selfish and comes from greed whereas holding someone accountable comes from love.
Again - A.men!
I agree. Selfishness is at the root of many of our society's ills.
"We need to be stronger in our convictions about what is right and wrong as a people, and not allow the mentality “what is right for one is not necessarily right for another” to invade every single action."
I love this part. I agree wholeheartedly. Let's start a revolution. :)
I like what Rebecca said. It's that "all about me" that's doing it.
Society seems to be more selfish with each year.
And I won't dare exclude myself from that. I'm certainly not holier-than-thou. I will say though, after dealing with so much "all about me" from so many others...it starts to come easy to take on that same mentality.
It's something I have to focus and stay aware of everyday. I think many of us do.
Great read!
Good points. It is sad to see all of this stuff going on. What is this world coming to?
I agree that guiding people to the right action is better than just finger pointing. I will remember this when I get back to my students :-) Sometimes I get wrapped up in "what were you thinking?" instead of "you should do this instead." I often forget that high school kids are literally brain dead, (a fellow teacher reminds me often that really their brains are not fully developed yet) and they don't realize what the right thing is.
No problem about not coming by this weekend. We will keep everyone updated on new developments. Let's hope we can get these babies home soon, and we can arrange a time to meet up!
Tell everyone hello at Cleo's for us. So excited that Theresa had her baby today. Kelsey and Kinley will be best buds for sure!
Haha, I feel like if someone were to read my posts and your posts they would think I am copying off you! Of course I agree with everything!
I have been to your blog a few times through Michelle at Endless Strength's Monday Mumbles, but I can tell you I will be back a lot more! :-)
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