What I’ve seen is that a lot of friends out there are getting discouraged. They’re seeing things like our President hugging & doing gangsta handshakes w/ notorious fascist dictators. They’re hearing the same man say that fixing what’s been broken by overspending requires spending even more; or that what we thought was our Christian nation – really isn’t. We’ve heard him make self-aggrandizing jokes @ the expense of Special Olympians & watched him chortle merrily as a famous-yet-uncouth comedienne publicly wishes the slow & painful death of a political adversary…
All this has a way of pi$$ing a person off (at best), or (even worse) darkening one’s spirit to the point of giving up. It seems to keep getting worse, doesn’t it, friends?
Let me introduce you to my new friend, Jan. I found her through DD2’s comments, & she has a interesting things to say. But her May 2nd post struck me at a fresh angle this morning. It gave me encouragement & buoyed my sense of mission here. She quotes David J. Pollay’s “Beware of Garbage Trucks”:
"How often do you let other people's nonsense change your mood? Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day? …The mark of a successful person is how quickly she can get back her focus on what's important...
Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it. And if you let them, they'll dump it on you. When someone wants to dump on you, don't take it personally. You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on…The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day…”
Please don’t get me wrong. We’d be a little crazy if the current situation were NOT making us a little crazy. We DO need to take breaks, pull away from it & find encouragement. We need to take care of ourselves, like our friend DD2 is doing.
All the while we need to remember that we are not throw ourselves under the garbage truck. We’re not to let it dump on us, & we’re not to let its cloud of dust & debris fall over our lives. We have the option of smiling, waving & letting it move down the road. After all, it’s NOT OUR TRUCK! And eventually it will run out of gas.
When we choose to let it pass & we watch its brake lights flicker in the distance, we would be wise to turn around, find our friends & remember who we are.
Nice analogy, the truck. It fits nicely here, & we can make real good use of it in the current climate.
But as Jan says, “The above is good advice, but this is better:
Amen, sister.
Please don’t get me wrong. We’d be a little crazy if the current situation were NOT making us a little crazy. We DO need to take breaks, pull away from it & find encouragement. We need to take care of ourselves, like our friend DD2 is doing.
All the while we need to remember that we are not throw ourselves under the garbage truck. We’re not to let it dump on us, & we’re not to let its cloud of dust & debris fall over our lives. We have the option of smiling, waving & letting it move down the road. After all, it’s NOT OUR TRUCK! And eventually it will run out of gas.
When we choose to let it pass & we watch its brake lights flicker in the distance, we would be wise to turn around, find our friends & remember who we are.
Nice analogy, the truck. It fits nicely here, & we can make real good use of it in the current climate.
But as Jan says, “The above is good advice, but this is better:
‘Come unto Me, all you who are weary & heavy laden,
& I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.’ ~Matthew 11:28-29
Amen, sister.
~~~
14 comments:
Speaking for myself, Obama's put a whole new HEAVY in LADEN, trust me!
A HEAVY I didn't know existed, as I watch my country fall apart.
This is good advice....I'll miss DD2, but I'm sure he did the right thing.
Have considered closing down, too, but not feeling moved to do it yet.
Thanks, Susannah...good post, good advice.
Yes, I'm sure he did the right thing too. I hope he'll make the rounds from time to time, even if it's just to lurk.
Please don't close down, my friend. I pray that you 'will mount up with wings like eagles, run & not become weary, walk & not faint.'
There is a fine line between just whining and understanding the seriousness of the situation.
Sitting on the wrong side of that line will just lead to depression.
If nothing else, someday we will be able to say, "See, I told you so."
I pray we can forstall that day.
I had to back off thinking about the state of the state so to speak - or I was going to make myself crazy. Yes I am extremely bothered and disturbed by the direction our country is going but I am trying not to let Obama's "garbage" give me high blood pressure. For a while - it was consuming me.
A good cleansing breath or 2 is always a good idea!!
Arrrghhh!!!!
How embarrassing to have Susannah see me at my worst on James Wolfer's site!!
Those guys were really out there, and I was tired and cranky, so ignore some of my comments in those situations, please.
Yes, this administration and this congress continue to look worse and worse with each passing day. And that's not just right wing bias, either. This president and this congress are even more embarrassing worldwide than the Carter administration or, in fact, Jimmy Carter's continued meddling in foreign and domestic affairs.
Joe~ You're right. If I ruminate on either side of that line for too long, I'm in trouble. "I pray we can forstall that day." Me too.
BetteJo~ Me too. The threat of high blood pressure & consuming thoughts is part of the reason I switched from running (intense, driven, internal) to Pilates & Yoga (calming, centering, external) back in Dec. It has truly made a big difference in coping (& muscle tone's not bad, either!) :)
Bluepit~ "How embarrassing to have Susannah see me at my worst on James Wolfer's site!!" What?? You were rockin' over there. You just needed somebody on your side, is all. They were starting to pile on & feel a bit too satisfied w/ themselves... :)
Yeah, & where does Jimmy Carter get off being the spokes-model of diplomacy ad nauseum?
Lets hope that this country wakes up one day SOON
America better wake up soon.
Great post Susannah! Keep up the good work.
Of course she’d be willing to compromise our national security. When she was named Speaker of The House her main goal, and the goal of all the dems that won back the Congress, was to drive our economy in the toilet and blame it on Republicans. Now we are all suffering and the people who are uninformed think it is all Bush’s fault, but Nancy is happy. She’s in charge, she won ... according to her and that’s all she cares about.
I love your blog Susannah, and I'll miss DD2 very much also.
BR & Fuzz~ Yep...Wonder how big of an alarm clock it's gonna take?? Is anyone even paying attention?
C&L~ Thanks. It's nice when you get good inspiration from friends!
Anon~ I assume you're talking about Pelosi.
LauraB~ Thanks so much. I'll miss him too. Let's all try & look out for one another, huh?
Dawn~ Small, small world! Thank you for your visit & comment. I followed the links you suggested. Good stuff!!
Thanks again for passing through. Do come again!
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