Honestly, there are hundreds of things in life to be upset
over….maybe more than hundreds. Everyone
with a brain and even some we question have one, have hot button issues that
just piss us off.
I do.
Mine may not be as important as yours and they may not even
matter in the grand scheme of things, but they are important to me. The difference in me and you is that I hear
you, I hear and see your anger, your tears of frustration, your shrieking and
gnashing of teeth and I walk away shaking my head because your anger prevents
you from having a coherent conversation.
A conversation that might lead us both to a common ground where a
solution might be found. You hear me, and you are triggered to respond. You must shout over me, you must call me
names, you must show up at things that are important to me and ruin the
experience for me…..and if I’m not careful you might hurt me. You do all of this while maintaining your own
“victim” status. You are a victim of
everything you don’t understand or you disagree with. Things I don’t understand or agree with might
make my blood boil but I am not victimized by them.
I choose to not characterize myself as a victim. For you, being a victim is a badge of honor,
applauded by like minded other victims.
And, for some people the very fact that others feel victimized by
everything is a total and instantaneous turn-off. It is true that it takes a certain maturity
to be able to reason with other people.
For the elderly set, like me, the time for arguing is long past…but I
will happily talk calmly and thoughtfully with anyone. It might interest you to learn that the “older
set” has actually been there, fought for, thought through, failed and sometimes
triumphed through every single issue you see yourself dealing with today. We can tell you how great it was to win, but
we can also tell you about the down side of winning…..because there always is
one.
To my younger and highly passionate friends I would like to
say “talk to people about why they feel the way they feel”, “be prepared to
back up your own opinions with actual facts because they will have facts in
abundance about their stance on an issue.”
Reason with each other. And if
you want them to show up for you………..show up for them.
For sure, the day will come when you will truly understand us and chances are
you will actually hold some of our own ideals as your own. We really aren’t that different….we simply
come at things from a different perspective built with the building blocks of
experience and knowledge. At 20 I was
sure I knew everything and I knew better.
At 72, I realize that at 20 I knew nothing except my passion and my rage
and my high flown ideals. When we can put feelings on the back burner and put rational discourse out in front - great things can happen.
From the generation who gave you great music....Peace Out!
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