As I sat at work today I thought about a lot of things that I could address through writing tonight. Now, as I sit here, my mind is blank. A few weeks ago a friend of mine sent me a quote that I found interesting, so I’ll start there and see where I end up by the time I finish.
The quote reads, “The hardest battle you’re ever going to fight is the battle to be just you.”
It sounds so simple doesn’t it? However, some people live their entire lives without ever really knowing who they are. I can’t fathom it, but I can understand it when I look around. There are so many lost souls who grasp at everything around them in order to find a small bit of acceptance. Once they “fit in” they move on to something else. Instead of looking in the mirror they try to keep up with everyone around them. These people crave attention and will do anything to get it, whether it’s positive attention or negative attention. The end result really doesn’t matter as long as they’re getting some type of attention.
We all like to complain about things. If you think you have a lot of will power try to go through one day without complaining about anything. I never realized how hard it is until someone challenged me with it. It was almost impossible for me. It’s easy to bitch and moan about everything under the sun, no matter how large or small the problem might be. Someone’s bad habits might irritate us. Another person’s bad driving skills might annoy us. Then, we have to complain about these things that get under our skin.
For a reason unknown to me I’ve had a lot of people talk to me about issues in their relationships. Sometimes I don’t say much and other times I lash out because I become irritated. It’s hard for me to believe what people put up with, especially when they are brought down by the events on a regular basis. A lot of times we don’t think people treat us well and in many cases they don’t. However, we should always remember that we only get treated as badly as we allow someone to treat us. There comes a time when we have to stand up for ourselves, put our foot down and move away from these things that bring us down.
Since this has no direction tonight I’ll add that my father just called from Houston. He’s shooting in the Senior Olympics and after the first day of shooting he’s in fourth place. I’m proud of him. He’s come a long way with his shooting skills over the last five years. Hopefully he can put a good score on the board again tomorrow and not drop any places.
I’m glad that he’s finally enjoying it for himself. I’ll never forget all of those years that he drove me all over the country so I could shoot. I achieved high levels of success and I loved every minute of it when I was competing. I always knew that he was proud of me, but I felt bad because I knew that he was traveling solely for me. I could never ask for a better role model or parent. That’s why it’s so satisfying when he calls me to tell me how he shot. I’m happy for him.
I would like to babble tonight, but I haven’t slept much this week. Tomorrow is Friday and I’m worn out. Hopefully I will feel a little more stimulated over the weekend.
I had very uplifting conversations both last night and today with different people. Sometimes it’s just a couple of minutes of someone’s time that makes a difference in the day. I’m glad I had the time and ability to converse with these people. A simple smile can often carry you from one day to the next.