Friday, December 10, 2010

Overcrowding? No means of escape? I think not!

Last night, I spoke with a gentleman, one of those negative-minded individuals, who was bemoaning just how horrible it is to have to live as we do now…in this day and age…with overcrowding…and no means for escape. I listened to him share how he thought it was a crying shame that “we,” in southern California, “all have to live in overcrowded conditions with nowhere to go to recalibrate our centeredness.” He went on to say that things were so much better in the nineteen-fifties, since, back then, everyone had available to them places to go to get away from it all.

Really?

When he was done issuing his doom and gloom outlook, I smiled and told him that I didn’t agree with his take on things. Smiling even more sweetly, I reminded him that here in southern California, we’re never more than an hour away from the desert, mountains, and ocean and are even closer to many other wonderful getaways. Stubbornly, he shook his head and insisted that the places one could go to get away were far easier to get to back in the fifties.

Hmmm….

Once again, I listened to his depressing take on things and then shared how I was fairly certain that those landmarks: the ocean, desert and mountains were still where they’d always been. Several people around us joined in the conversation, agreeing with me that all it took was a willing heart to find a getaway for one to decompress.

Though the man never did see things quite our way, preferring to believe that everything is bleak and getter bleaker by the second, the rest of us know better, having initiated those steps ourselves to find restful spots. And today, I found myself drawn to one of them.

Heading out to run one of my favorite mountain trails, I enjoyed the scent of dirt, moistened by recent rainfalls, shrubbery, lush and green, casting off its sweet aroma, and an awe-inspiring view that made it difficult to keep running, as I wanted to stop and look at it…forever. Though I felt like an owl with an overly active rotating neck, trying to take in all the sights, I did make it through my run. At the very end, I got the most amazing treat. Pictured here, you see what I found as I rounded the final corner—four deer, not the least bit afraid of me as I stood there less than twelve feet away.

Overcrowding? Possibly. No means of escape? Absolutely not!

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Thought I’d write about arrogant folks. You know the ones, those who have the I’m-better-than-anyone-else-and-my-s**t-doesn’t-smell attitude dripping from their every pore.

Where do folks like this get off? Why do they feel the need to inflict their yucky mentality on as many as possible? Don’t they know it makes them look like an even bigger jerk? Or don’t they care? Does acting like a bigger jerk somehow boost their already over-inflated all-about-me egos?

Whenever I come in contact with this kind of person, I get the grossest feeling, like I need to scrub myself in the nearest shower in the hopes of washing away any lasting impressions that might have lingered. Of course, that’s if the person has flung any of their crud in my direction. But when I witness it being directed at those I care for, a whole different me emerges. It’s at those times when my mama bear makes herself known.

I try to avoid making the situation worse but won’t stand by and watch those I care about being assaulted with verbal attacks. Instead of engaging with the rude individual personally, my number one priority is to get the one being attacked away from the situation, leaving the arrogant individual behind to …to…well, quite frankly, I don’t care what they do as long as they keep it away from us.

It’s my belief that arrogant people should be treated as they act, like ill-behaved children. As such, I ignore their behavior, knowing that what they crave is attention. And since they’re willing to go to such drastic measures to obtain it, I hope that my denying them might give them pause to reconsider their behavior. Of course, they might not get the hint, but I can always hope.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Tis the season…. What better time than to assess where you are in life? How people treat you. How you allow them to treat you.

Recently, I’ve engaged in conversations with various folks, many of which I can personally relate. One woman shared how her house had become thought of as a hotel. She recently received a call from a cousin’s ex, whom she hadn’t spoken with in two years. This person had the gall to tell her he was coming to California for Christmas and was going to stay with her.

What?

It gets better. Originally, he’d indicated that he’d arrive on December 23^rd and then leave after the New Year. She agreed.

Why?

But then, he surprised her by calling a week later to tell her that he’d be arriving on the 15^th, still staying until after the new Year. Thankfully, she put her foot down and told the house-crashing cad that was not acceptable.

And what of the “friends” whom haven’t had a bit of contact with you—forever—but…as soon as December rolls around, they suddenly want to be on your radar. Better yet, from past experience, you know that these “friends” will disappear as soon as the holidays have come and gone. So why do they pop up? Simple, the ones I’ve encountered and have been told of by others want to be added to your Christmas list so they’ll get gifts, etc.

How bold!

And I’m sure we can all relate to the people who, having found the time to become bored in their own lives, feel they have a right to monopolize ours, attempting to infuse themselves into every minute of our day. The brazenness, which these folks display, is nothing shy of incredible in its rudeness not to mention sense of entitlement.

Where do they get off?

I could never imagine imposing myself on another, telling them that I was going to crash at their house until…whenever. Likewise, I can’t fathom the audacity of those who try to ingratiate themselves to others just for the sake of getting something for free. And to think I’d have the right to monopolize someone else’s life, complicating it in the process, is something I can’t even wrap my mind around.

What I can detect is a common thread in all of these scenarios. We are powerless in none of them. Nowhere is it written that we should allow ourselves to be treated like doormats for others. Sure, they have the right to ask, just as we have the responsibility to stand up for ourselves. Doing so will sometimes require that we say “no.” Will there be hurt feelings? Probably, especially if the one’s we’re declining demonstrate even half the rudeness or sense of entitlement that I’d spotlighted here. But should we let fear of upsetting someone who is rude sway us into disregarding our needs to fulfill theirs? Absolutely not!

Tis the season that folks are running on hyper-drive, trying to accomplish a monumental amount of stuff. Allowing ourselves to be taken advantage of only serves to further complicate our already busy schedules, fraying our nerves in the process. So how do we lessen our load? By pausing before heaping more on our plates to discern if what’s proposed is something we want or others, who are looking to get whatever they can from whomever, are forcing upon us.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

After dropping my son at school this morning, I pulled up to a red light. On the car in front of me, I noticed a bumper sticker with the quote, imagination is more important than knowledge, by Albert Einstein. That captured my full attention.

My initial reaction was, oh yeah, I couldn’t agree more! Perhaps because I’m a creative person whose imagination runs on overtime, this quote resonated with me, striking a deep chord. To me, its words were irrefutable.

Knowledge is great, but without imagination what can be done with that knowledge?

Throughout history, every major discovery has had imagination at its nucleus. How can I say this with such conviction? Simple. Those who make great discoveries, capable of altering our thinking, must have imagination to step outside the known facts to explore different ways of pondering things. Seeing them with eyes willing to look beyond known limitations. Taking what is known and tweaking it just enough to test its limits to see if they’ll hold true or if there might be greater knowledge to be gained.

Think about it. If it weren’t for imagination, there would be no skyscrapers, jaw-dropping bridges, the Panama Canal, electricity, space exploration, cures and preventative vaccines to many horrid diseases, Great Pyramids, a firm understanding of how the earth is round—not flat and a host of countless other amazing feats. Had the minds of those who first invented these things not been propelled to think on a grander scale than believed possible, none of these things would exist, for each was originally believed improbable if not impossible…except in those imaginative minds.

Though knowledge is necessary, I do not believe it’s enough to further us in our quest to do more. Be more. Achieve more. Understand more. In order for our dreams to come to fruition, imagination is the catalyst that puts knowledge to its test.