In A Coffeeshop in Philadelphia

Happy Holidays everyone. Hopefully they are treating you well, and offering you a chance to reflect and hopefully feel good about those reflections. I'd imagine that given the time of year, those reflections are causing you to think about what could be better. Certainly, I've had thoughts such as these. For instance, the one that we all have, or maybe it's my perception, is that I could be more healthy. I could cut out the unnecessaries, and stick to basics. I'm sure that the fact that I'm reading Gandhi's autobiography ("The Story of My Experiements With Truth") has something to do with this idea. Going back to my 26 years of experience though, this isn't a realistic goal...but something in between is. Cutting back on the luxury items, be it consumable (FOOD) or non consumable (TOYS) isn't going to harm me one bit. One consumable that I'd like to cut out is alcohol. Looking around my life, I see that there are a good deal of negatives associated with it. I think over the past year, I've definately cut back from somewhat irresponsible consumption to responsible consumption, with a few slip ups here and there. Now, though, I'd like to continue this trend to non-consumption. Most of you who know me will probably think it's ludicris, and maybe it is, but it's a goal. Seeing that I'm not an alcoholic or anything, it's probably unlikely that I'll find the necessary will power to go completely alcohol free, but I'm sure that it can be largely cut out. Since I'm cheap, maybe I should take $50 a month and put it into my savings account, and keep track of it...haha. Another thought would be if one of you would like to offer me a bet...that would work...I hate losing bets.

So this holiday has gotten me thinking more than ever of the "negativity" I feel myself surrounded by. It seems that the first words out of people's mouths are some sort of complaint. Now I'm sure that I'm being fairly hyper sensitive to it, so I'll try to stop. I'm seeing though, that there seems to be a general lack of optimism around. There are "problems" and there are problems, and I think that my frustration has to do with the perception that "problems" really are problems. If that didn't confuse you, please read on. I feel that we (me included) have a hard time focusing on the positives in life, because we take then for granted. For instance, if you're hungry, when you eat, you forget about what it was like to be hungry. We have time to focus on the house being unclean instead of thinking, well I have a safe roof over my head, and others are sitting in the cold. I was hungry this morning, and it sucked, but now, I'm not hungry, how about those that are.

This might not make any sense, but I guess my point is that if we can focus on the positives around us, it'll leave us with the energy to make a positive impact on those that have true problems.

A friend of mine just reminded me of her friend who's got cancer. This person is 26 years old, and undergoing very difficult chemotherapy. Another friend's friend has had a stroke at 28, and is very severely disabled. My own parents were in a serious car accident 2.5 years ago, and the effects are still being seen. How can we help these people, when our energies, many times are focused on the petty things in life.

I know, I know, I'm on a soapbox, but hopefully theres someone out there who'll tell me I'm full of crap if I am.