Oh, there are plenty of reasons to be frustrated with the world around us. And I do care who you voted for: I’m just not making excuses for letting it live on my shoulder and whisper in my ear.
I’m tired of tolerating increasingly thin justifications from friends and family to be – and remain – outraged. Never mind that I, too, am offended, righteously indignant, morally and socially insulted and feeling betrayed (I mean, Bad Santa 2? Really?). Why contribute to the stream of bitterness that’s become a raging river?
Yes, rationalizing has gotten hyper-stupid. After this year, our cop-outs have developed an overlapping quality where contexts mingle because we offer so many. It’s as though we need Venn diagrams or flow charts to see them clearly.
How many excuses do I make in a day? Well shit, I’m afraid to ask, for fear of being shown self-awarded behavior exemptions I don’t even know I’m making. But whether on a community level, a national level, or by ourselves in line at the grocery store, too many people seem to think they’re entitled to comfort zones in which their irritation reflexes and rude or hurtful antics can’t be called out for the warm-fart coping skills they are.
And this is all compounded by the fact that:
Social and broadcast media lock us into an asinine, counterintuitive spectrum of emotions and empathies.
It’s time to stop making excuses for thinking your victimhood or martyrdom (or exercise regimen) is more valuable than someone else’s. Whoever is right, wrong, or just plain dumb will be revealed in time, when fate gets the last laugh. Until then, prepare for the second coming of Christ. (I’m kidding. Just be good to yourself and stop making excuses for rubbing your perceptions of loss, gain, or guilt in other people’s faces.)
The Internet pushes us to be all things to all people – not to mention grounded, principled, confident, invigorated and pretty.
It’s definitely time to stop making excuses for grazing on Anxiety Grass*. Have friends or co-workers who won’t shut up about nuclear winters and civilization’s downfall and government moon theft? Lead by example and change the dialogue. Don’t run and hide, just actively choose more productive conversations. And let people hear you “going high when others go low.” Grounded, principled, confident, invigorated and pretty will latch on to you before you know it.
We tell each other not to fall for materialism but yearn to show we’re comfortable and lucky (at least compared to the next guy).
It’s time to stop making excuses for ignoring that homeless person at the bottom of the exit ramp. Challenge yourself. Keep your precious two dollars if you must, but look him or her in the eye and wish ’em well. Get a spine and get kind – you can share that for free.
We’re pulled in more directions than our practical spirituality can handle; ideologically and culturally we’re short-circuiting like bad toasters.
It’s time to stop making excuses for not meditating. There, I said it. Go meditate. Find a rock in the park and stare at it. Write a poem; make it funny. The struggle for the right words is hard and wonderful, solitary and important. Paint something; build something; learn something. Find a reason and find a way to carve alone-time into your schedule. Then defend it. And whether it’s about listening to God or listening to yourself, the point is the listening. ‘Cause when you’re listening, you’re not fucking talking. Now that’s practical spirituality.
Sore winners, sore losers…it’s getting to where you can’t tell the immature from the spoiled.
It’s time to stop making excuses for being willingly captive to a collective, hysterical impatience that robs us of both dignity and potential. Start with you. Be teachable first and then make the changes you want to see in the world. In other words, “Get character or become one.”
And if we’re serious about doing that, it’s time to stop making excuses.
*A collaborative effort from DARPA and Monsanto.
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