WE BITCH WAY TOO MUCH

It seems to me we seem to bitch a lot about things in this country.

Each day I listen to people complain about how difficult their lives are and how hard they struggle.
I get emails that compare The President of the country to a socialistic Satan who befriends communists and screws up the efficiency of government programs.

Wives complain about their husbands,husbands about their wives, mothers about their children,children about their parents,employees about their bosses and the quantity of their work and so much more.
Can't we just STOP for a minute, take a breath and look around?
No! I mean really LOOK!

Maybe all of us should be required to graduate from school and travel to some of the other countries in this world that we imagine to be so exotic.
Our homes are palaces compared to theirs. Even in most of "desirable" Europe, people live in much smaller homes or flats with far fewer of the amenities,amenities that we take for granted. If you haven't had the opportunity to travel then these places are those you often see on HGTV House Hunting International where people are looking for "AMERICAN STYLE kitchens" and a washer,a dryer and an oven somewhere in the house!

One of my greatest joys when returning from a trip to Europe a couple of years ago was the fact that I no longer had to look for change if I wanted to use the bathroom.
Wait on a line in a Ladies' Room?...maybe, but not have to put coins in a turn style or slot.
Now granted this sounds like a ridiculously frivolous thing to even mention but trust me, when landing in the Charlotte Airport with quaint little white rocking chairs and a vast selection of real American fast food, it was a comfort to not have to pay to PEE!

I guess we complain so much because we can and because many of us don't know that most of the rest of the world doesn't live nearly as well as we do.
Our grocery stores have so many choices of similar products it takes a studious shopper a good deal of time to decide which cereal to buy and then only after reading the label if he or she is at all health conscious.

And what of this complaining not only about creature comforts but about those people who are closest to us. We seem so many of us to expect our parents to be perfect and ever self sacrificing, while we wander through our lives focused not on them but on ourselves. When was the last time you called your Mom or Dad and had a simple conversation asking how they were and inviting them to some regularly scheduled event at your house? If they are retired now, they are still worried about you their child and maybe their grandchild. They undoubtedly want your life to be easier then theirs was. In return adult children today have almost a sense of entitlement expecting not to have to be inconvenienced by their parents' needs but to be gifted consistently with what one of my friends called "the big ticket gift items" at Christmas and Birthdays. And in return the parent gets a small appliance for their kitchen,or maybe a couple of shirts,or a bottle of cologne or perfume and an occasional phone call.

Husbands and wives bitch about everything the other one does.
And as friends we listen to people bemoan the trap they are in with a spouse who leaves his socks in the living room, or forgets to flush, or never puts his dishes in the sink, watches too much sports, or plays too many video games.

I recently spent some time living with a man and his son who I adore and I can tell you when you care about someone else, truly care.. it isn't a big deal to pick up after them from time to time in small ways when you consider all that they contribute to the house for your benefit and the quality of your own life.

When did we stop noticing the little things that others do for us?

It is a trap we have fallen into in a spoiled country.
We have become BRATS!

Asking more then even we want to give, expecting perfection from all around us, forgetting the human and sometimes humorous side of life and of those people who we love and live with.

We do create undo stress for ourselves trying to keep up with the neighbors, or to fill the voids of our empty nest homes with things instead of caring and compassion for others.
Our marriages fail because we are all out working in exhausting positions that leave our Spirits and our Souls empty and we return to our beautiful homes with nothing left to give the people who are closest to us.

Now,don't get me wrong, I think women's lib was a great thing. We, as women, gained a right to contribute, to be heard, to be validated,,, but at what cost?.
Our marriages are failing miserably, our kids are left alone to latch - key themselves into a world of video and computer games or worse, drugs and other additive behavior to feel like they BELONG somewhere to something.

Our family debt leaves us no choice but to work and work long hours in order to be able to afford all those finer things for ourselves and our cornicopia kids.
while we are working no one is connecting and no one is home "minding the store" so to speak.

So BITCH we do,,, that we have no support at home, no one who appreciates us, no place to go to when we need a soft place to fall. We BLAME the schools, and government, and everyone around us. Our spouses for not being appreciative and our kids for not doing and not giving us more, while we give them every, and I mean every item on their lists for SANTA. Teaching them that, if you want something in life you can have it by just asking without so much as lifting a finger or even knowing the cost, and hours needed to work to buy such a thing.

We BITCH too much.
We have absolutely no relationship with each other that would make us each feel respected and valued because most of us never get down to basics... and by basics I mean our relationship with God.

We cannot succeed relationally with each other until we understand the most basic of premises.Our relationship with GOD/ The Universe/ whatever you want to call it... IT MUST be in place.
We must understand that ONE DAY AT A TIME, sometimes ONE MOMENT at a time we have to stop and breathe in the JOY OF BEING, The Unbearable Lightness of BEING as it is, in this great Universe and in this great country.

You see we really do have EVERYTHING we need especially if we have our health, at least a life without physical pain,or fear in illness,death and dying.

We have every advantage of every opportunity available to us.
But mostly we live in a place where though, we may be prohibited in some schools or public places from demonstrating it, we can in the privacy of our homes and in the quietness of our hearts, whisper to our GOD however we know HIM and say " I need you. Please help me." And, oh yes, "THANK YOU" for the many, many blessing you bestow on me each and every day.

If we start replacing our negative talk with positive talk both inwardly and outwardly so many more good things will be noticed, appreciated, and enjoyed.
And then we are OPEN to receive even greater JOYS and BLESSINGS.

So instead of bitching, next time take a long hard look at where you are, and what you have, and begin to smile not only outwardly because you think you should,but inwardly.

Life is so Good.
Even in our darkest hours, we are so very blessed.
So STOP BITCHING ! Say a pray of THANK YOU !