Arrogance – something that everyone is guilty of being at one point or another, myself included, but some more so then others. I read something this morning on facebook that made me so angry and immediately wanted to respond with “who the hell do you think you are!” As the time passed I bit my tongue (or fingers in this instance) and really thought about it. Yes this person was out of line and it’s not the first time, but how much better would I be if I said something back? I found myself thinking this person thought they did nothing wrong and were better than everyone else and because of that I was better than them – but am I?
I saw where my mind was going and realized that in my line of thinking I was being just as arrogant as they were. I started to worry if I had ever been so downright arrogant to post something for everyone to see what an ass I really was – I hope not. I know I have my faults and I know sometimes I do think I am better than others, but it’s not because of what they do or don’t do – but how they act. I’ve always prided myself for being nice to others; no matter how nasty they were to me and how quickly I forgave them. I often put myself in other people’s shoes so I am not so quick to judge them – after all, who am I to judge?
In light of my new hate for arrogance I have placed myself on a higher standard – I don’t want to be that way, I don’t want people to look at me and ask “who the hell do you think you are?” I want to be kind and uplifting to others, not bring them down. I know I am not perfect and I know I still will have weak moments but the effort is there.
I’m just going to add a small note about assumptions – usually if you assume something is about you then you end up making an ass out of yourself but in this case – if you assume I am talking about you – then maybe this will be an ah-ha moment and you will see that maybe you too need to reevaluate what you do or say.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Heroes
There are a lot of things about September 11th that brings tears to my eyes; the many people who died the ones who were left behind, the motherless and fatherless children, and even knowing that there is such evil in the world to send the attack in the first place. I hate seeing others in pain, I hate knowing that people suffer, and I hate that there are so many people ungrateful for what they have.
So many people go through life and don’t give any thought to what is happening to keep them safe. I’ve had this conversation with my husband many times, although he is a lot more opinioned than I am on this subject. When the whole TSA pat down debate was going on I’d asked my husband if he would let them pat down our daughter if we were to fly somewhere. He shocked me with his answer – “yes” and he further explained that going through the proper security is what keeps us safe (granted he had a lot more to say about this but that would be a whole other blog). It got me thinking, a small inconvenience is worth making sure thousands of people don’t lose their lives again.
Hundreds of thousands of families are split up each year because one parent, or in some cases both parents, are deployed in the military to fight for our freedom. My heart goes out to these families every day because I know it is hard to be so far away from the ones you love, especially when they are in very dangerous places, putting everyone else’s lives above their own. The military volunteer to join, they join knowing they could die so that so many others can live. Just this fact alone makes them amazing people.
The people in the military are not the only ones to go to work protecting us; the police officers and firefighters do the same thing. More often than not, the police officers are overlooked for the jobs they do. Every morning they wake up, put their uniforms on, and go to work with the disadvantage of not knowing what the day holds for them. They could have a day where they do nothing but drive around and the next day they could be fighting for their lives.
The police and firefighters on September 11th did not go to work that day expecting to get the calls they got; they did not expect to running into the buildings that everyone else were running away from – but they did. They took charge of everything they could; they saved so many lives and lost so many of their own. They didn’t put themselves in danger because it was their job, they did it because that is who they are; Heroes! It is the people such as these that make me feel so proud. It’s not only the ones in New York, but everywhere because had the attack happened in any city there would be the same type of person putting their lives in danger to save another.
I wish everyone could see the good these men and woman do every day and not only on the anniversary of September 11th – don’t give them such a hard time because they wrote you a ticket because YOU were breaking the law. It has taken me a long time to realize that these men and women are doing their jobs to keep you and others safe and a ticket is just that – a ticket, but if you were ever in any danger they would be the first ones to come to your aid; putting their lives at risk to save yours.
Being the wife of a cop I face the same fate of those New York families, one day my husband may not come home from work because he put someone else’s life above his own. He, along with every other police officer and firefighter, has my upmost respect and it is not only on one day of the year – it is all year long.
So many people go through life and don’t give any thought to what is happening to keep them safe. I’ve had this conversation with my husband many times, although he is a lot more opinioned than I am on this subject. When the whole TSA pat down debate was going on I’d asked my husband if he would let them pat down our daughter if we were to fly somewhere. He shocked me with his answer – “yes” and he further explained that going through the proper security is what keeps us safe (granted he had a lot more to say about this but that would be a whole other blog). It got me thinking, a small inconvenience is worth making sure thousands of people don’t lose their lives again.
Hundreds of thousands of families are split up each year because one parent, or in some cases both parents, are deployed in the military to fight for our freedom. My heart goes out to these families every day because I know it is hard to be so far away from the ones you love, especially when they are in very dangerous places, putting everyone else’s lives above their own. The military volunteer to join, they join knowing they could die so that so many others can live. Just this fact alone makes them amazing people.
The people in the military are not the only ones to go to work protecting us; the police officers and firefighters do the same thing. More often than not, the police officers are overlooked for the jobs they do. Every morning they wake up, put their uniforms on, and go to work with the disadvantage of not knowing what the day holds for them. They could have a day where they do nothing but drive around and the next day they could be fighting for their lives.
The police and firefighters on September 11th did not go to work that day expecting to get the calls they got; they did not expect to running into the buildings that everyone else were running away from – but they did. They took charge of everything they could; they saved so many lives and lost so many of their own. They didn’t put themselves in danger because it was their job, they did it because that is who they are; Heroes! It is the people such as these that make me feel so proud. It’s not only the ones in New York, but everywhere because had the attack happened in any city there would be the same type of person putting their lives in danger to save another.
I wish everyone could see the good these men and woman do every day and not only on the anniversary of September 11th – don’t give them such a hard time because they wrote you a ticket because YOU were breaking the law. It has taken me a long time to realize that these men and women are doing their jobs to keep you and others safe and a ticket is just that – a ticket, but if you were ever in any danger they would be the first ones to come to your aid; putting their lives at risk to save yours.
Being the wife of a cop I face the same fate of those New York families, one day my husband may not come home from work because he put someone else’s life above his own. He, along with every other police officer and firefighter, has my upmost respect and it is not only on one day of the year – it is all year long.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Love is a choice
I went to church this morning and the one thing that really stuck out that the pastor said was that love is a choice; its not the butterflies you feel when you are with someone or the romance that is there or not – you have to choose to love someone. When I thought about it I realized how true this statement was. I remember watching The Wedding Planner and there was a scene where J-Lo’s father was explaining to her about his arranged marriage with her mother. He explained how “I appreciated her, then the appreciation grew to respect, respect grew to like, then like grew to love, a deeper love than I could ever hope for.” Isn’t that how you should find love? By meeting someone, getting to know them, respect them, like them, love them? You can’t force love and if you love someone for physical aspects what happens when it goes away?
I could have very easily been shallow and never married my husband because of physical attributes – don’t get me wrong, I am attracted to my husband, but I love him for him and not his looks. The only reason I push for him to lose weight is not because of how it looks, but because his weight was unhealthy. I want him to live as long as he possibly can and he already has an 18 year disadvantage so the more I can help him do to extend his life expectancy the better off he will be.
I understand now how people can stay married to someone for so long – long after the honeymoon phase is gone, long after the kids have grown and moved away and even after the grandkids arrive…it’s a choice. With this “eye opener” I have a deeper understanding of marriage and am more confidence that this marriage will not end in a divorce like my first one. We are both determined to make this work and we both choose every morning that we are going to stay married and love each other.
Choosing to love does not only apply to your spouse but also your kids. Not everyone has that natural love for their children, as evident by the number of deadbeat moms and dads. Being a parent is hard work and it could be so easy to throw your hands up and say “I’m done” if it wasn’t for the love you have for them. There is nothing glamorous about changing smelly diapers, cleaning up puke, getting up at wee hours of the morning, nursing a biting baby, rocking while there is someone screaming in your arms or even washing green beans out of your hair. I am so thankful that I have the “mothering gene” and have no problem loving my child with everything I have but I’ll be honest and say – sometimes I may not like her that much. Sometimes I do have to rock her long after she fell asleep just to recharge and reaffirm that life is going to continue on and it will be great.
I could have very easily been shallow and never married my husband because of physical attributes – don’t get me wrong, I am attracted to my husband, but I love him for him and not his looks. The only reason I push for him to lose weight is not because of how it looks, but because his weight was unhealthy. I want him to live as long as he possibly can and he already has an 18 year disadvantage so the more I can help him do to extend his life expectancy the better off he will be.
I understand now how people can stay married to someone for so long – long after the honeymoon phase is gone, long after the kids have grown and moved away and even after the grandkids arrive…it’s a choice. With this “eye opener” I have a deeper understanding of marriage and am more confidence that this marriage will not end in a divorce like my first one. We are both determined to make this work and we both choose every morning that we are going to stay married and love each other.
Choosing to love does not only apply to your spouse but also your kids. Not everyone has that natural love for their children, as evident by the number of deadbeat moms and dads. Being a parent is hard work and it could be so easy to throw your hands up and say “I’m done” if it wasn’t for the love you have for them. There is nothing glamorous about changing smelly diapers, cleaning up puke, getting up at wee hours of the morning, nursing a biting baby, rocking while there is someone screaming in your arms or even washing green beans out of your hair. I am so thankful that I have the “mothering gene” and have no problem loving my child with everything I have but I’ll be honest and say – sometimes I may not like her that much. Sometimes I do have to rock her long after she fell asleep just to recharge and reaffirm that life is going to continue on and it will be great.
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