Ageism... A wealth of knowledge at your disposal.

What's on my mind today?

When trying to encourage others that are younger than me, I often hear them call my points of view "ageism" and they cluck their tongue or shake their head - or glare. It is not "ageism" - it is having lived life. They say "things aren't the same as they use to be when YOU were my age" yet, as a parent, I see that nothing has changed. There are still mean people. There are still tragedies. There is still loss. There is STILL the exact same amount of "stupid" going on. But there is ALSO the same way to find happiness if you seek it instead of miring yourself in the 'unfortunate' things that happen.

And I listen to so much bitterness coming from young people. I scratch my head. I've had a child die when I was just 19 years old. I've held my father and my step fathers hands as they died (one when I was just in my 20's, the other in my late 30's). I've seen horrors in my own life - felt the atrocity of being raped and molested by a relative for years and years as a child. Beaten by a step father who, at the end, simply asked for forgiveness, which I gladly gave. But I have seen the birth of a child; the beauty of life entering the world. I've climbed mountains in Colorado and felt like I was touching the sky. I've swam in the ocean and thought "I am where whales have been - touched something that millions of people have touched. And I am significant. My life, for it's ups and downs is but a blip in this world, and yet it is so very important because I have touched; I have felt; I have lived, loved, cried and smiled - I have seen the face of God in every little and big thing and felt the grace of God in each, whether I have recognized it or not. I am grateful for the tears that made me stronger, the smiles that my heart lighter, and for every minute that I breathe I am filling my lungs with life that has been touched by so many. And I exhale and that life is reawakened in yet other things, only to come back to me. Yes. I AM significant!"

Not that I can compare my life to what others can endure - we are all different - but still I wonder to myself: "If you cannot accept defeat; if you cannot handle others anger towards you and gossiping about you; if you cannot overcome the small difficulties in life... how are you ever going to learn to live with the real tragedies?" If you can't figure out that those rainy days are the ONLY reason that you see the grass and tree's and oceans and rivers and flowers, how are you ever going to figure out that every little and big thing that happens is for you to see the beauty from within and without??

These things in life that are so big right now? They are nothing. That kid in school that won't stop bullying? Insignificant in 5 years. That teacher that is riding you about your grades? They want you to succeed. That argument with mom about what you cannot wear out of the house? To protect you from stupid people that will bring you harm. That cop that busts you for a beer in your hand? Trying to stop you from making a damn fool of yourself. These things? They are little mole hills on a climb that you will face until the day you die. If you are focused on the tragedy of a friend betraying you, a boss being a jerk, a bank screwing you over on a mortgage (ahem!), someone not repaying a deed you have done out of the goodness of your heart or a friend not accepting an apology for something you have done to them, your focus is wrong. 

Life is for living - overcoming what feels like a tragedy; laughing and finding the humor in a stumble (or falling off of a little yellow wagon!); caring for the ones that mean the world to you - and realizing that you should be caring for EVERYONE, because EVERYONE *should* matter to you. It's about doing something with the bad to make it a positive. Flipping the coin so you can see the other side and understanding that life isn't about our own single vision...that only leads to be a narcissist...but about HAVING a vision that you can see from other's perspectives. It's about broadening your horizon in the face of a closed door or lost opportunity. It's about turning the luggage you are carrying into something useful and meaningful instead of letting it be the thing that kills your soul, stops your smile, infects your ego and your life.

Go out. LIVE LIFE! Experience the wonders in everything that happens. For it is a wonderment that you are even alive. Most of all? Embrace the "no-gooders" and promise to yourself that you won't turn into them because a life of being mean leads to a life of no meaning.