A friend on Facebook said something a few months back that stuck with me......I can't remember what she said verbatim but it was something to the effect of, "Humans are the only species with an ego capable of being cruel". I hadn't really thought about that concept before (at least from that angle), but it's true.
When I was growing up, my mom had this tiny little wooden plaque hanging in her kitchen that said:
I wish I were what I was when I wanted to be what I am now.
When I was little, it was a fun little tongue twister and I was just proud of myself that I could remember it and say it. But as I got older and hit certain points in my life, I would think about that quote from a whole different angle. That little plaque had hung in every kitchen I had lived in my entire life, but I'm pretty sure it got ripped away by the tornado that destroyed my parents' house 2 years ago. But I'll never forget it.
Something else that has stuck with me over the years is:
You can't complain about something you're not doing anything about.
I think about this one ALL the time, because I see/listen to people do it ALL the time - complain about things they're not participating in a solution for. They complain about political figures in their township/city/county/state/nation......but they don't vote. They're appalled by the way their neighbor treats their pet or their kids......but they don't bother calling anybody to report it in order "not to get involved". They feel horrible about all the animals that die in shelters daily and agree that we need to DO something about it.....but they don't bother to adopt or foster a shelter animal. There are other non animal-related examples, but you get the idea. It all wraps back around to Gandhi:
But it also applies to people who complain about the little personal things. Those who constantly complain that they are "so fat" or "so out of shape" or "so sick of their job" or "so tired of their boyfriend/girlfriend" or "so.....(fill in the blank)....", but they don't make an effort to remedy their so-called problem. And sometimes I even have to remind myself that I can't complain about something if I'm not attempting to remedy it, at least a little. Which brings me to another quote I like:
Now I'm not talking about ALL complaining, because there are definitely complaints out there that can't (or maybe just simply shouldn't) be solved. A mother complaining about how exhausted she is because her baby won't sleep can't necessarily do a DAMN thing about it (no matter how much of a baby expert you think you are). So she has a right to shed a few tears and whine about it. Or maybe someone you know hates their job but CAN'T leave? Let them complain...they probably need to vent. Or let's say you go to a restaurant and your steak comes out overdone. Sure, you could complain and send it back and wait and get a new one and ultimately "solve the problem"......but really, is it worth it? Do you want to be THAT person? If it's not that bad, just eat it anyway. And there's also the whole complaining about friends and relatives, another thing you can't always "do" something about, nor should you even if you have the chance. Because of a little something called kindness. Being 100% blunt and honest all the time is just simply not always the way to go. You could lose friends over it. And with family, it might be a situation where it wouldn't matter anyway. So in this case, pick your battles. It's much wiser. This is what bitch sessions with your friends are for. Bitch sessions get a free pass for complaining and gossiping.
Most recently, though, I've had to remind myself of the following:
You can't keep doing the same thing and expect different results.
I've been running a couple of times a week, I've been eating healthy most of the time, I've been avoiding refined carbs most of the time, and I've been letting myself be hungry during times when in the past I would have previously stuffed my face with whatever food looked good. OH SO YUMMY JUNK FOOD. So I've definitely been making the effort towards losing weight and getting my old body back. But it's been antagonizingly SLOW and the results aren't punching me in the face like I'd like them to. And so while taking a shower the other day and thinking about everything, it dawned on me that I have been doing the same thing for weeks yet expecting better results. So I decided to change things up a bit. I'm adding meal replacement shakes into my day. I'm making sure that if I don't get my run in during the day (if nap time doesn't work out in my favor), I run at night after everyone goes to bed. I'm going to blow the dust off my P90X DVDs and incorporate some of the workouts into my "off" days from running.
I'm simply just going to have to work harder and do a better job. :)
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