Thankful?

A word about life, the universe and having everything…

Well, yeah. At the end of the day we should all be “Oprah at the beginning of the day” thankful for everything. We should praise our lucky stars and jump up and down with peaceful joy and paint ourselves pink and do performance art in celebration. When you come back to Earth, Sparky, let me know. The reality is a bit more sobering. We live in a great place, don’t get me wrong. But the joy of being human is that you can be in the most beautiful, happy, restful place and you could screw it all to heck in a heartbeat because your drink isn’t cold enough. We’re fickle buggers. I remember being a child and being so wound up about something on Christmas that despite getting my #1 toy on the list (after the pony, never got the *&$%$ pony), that I would be miserable all day. Amazing what a certain perspective will do for whether you appreciate what’s around you.

So while we have nice places to live, food, clothing, TV, yadda yadda, most of us aren’t happy. Why? Perspective. I don’t care who you are or what you do every day – if you decide not to like something or someone, you’re gonna have a hard time changing that unless you fix your own head. That person can work their patootie off trying to impress you, and until you decide to change it, you won’t like them. The big problem is when you decide you don’t like anything. Ever. Except those little cheesy crackers in the Chex mix. But life can’t be made of those little cheesy crackers. Despite my many efforts to the contrary and supporting our Space program, I still can’t vote anyone off my planet. If wishes were spacecraft, lots of folks would be sucking vacuum. So in the meantime, I need to adjust my own attitude, all by myself.

Does this mean I have to be nice to everyone? No, but they do have to earn respect, otherwise I’m sticking with good old fashioned courtesy.

Does this mean I like everyone? What kind of crack are you smoking?! No, I don’t have to like everyone, but I respect their right to breathe in my vicinity until they prove they’re too obnoxious to be near me. And even then, I still have working feet and the ability to glare with the best of them.

Am I all Oprah about the wonderful blessings in my life? Hell no, I’m from NY. While appreciate the sheer luck the universe bestowed on me in plunking me down where I started, I’ve been driving this machine ever since. I have the responsibility to be happy, be nice, play nice, respect those who deserve, be courteous, and suck it up when crap doesn’t go my way. The flip side of that is to do, create, be fun, make fun, play nice, inspire others, and generally be an asset to the universe. See, look what you created!

So, let’s check the balance sheet – are you an asset or a liability?