Friday, August 27, 2010

Honor Your Mother and Father

I've become a mean person. Well...my friends might say otherwise. But my parents think I'm mean. And I am. Recently, I observed some family members with their parents. Mean. Impatient. I get it. We have the least amount of patience with the people we love. We're invested in them understanding our point of view and unconditionally supporting us. But I think that rarely happens.
 My parents have only seen the worst part of my personality for years. I'm extremely grateful to them for all they've done for me. And I have no desire to be mean to them. But I was.
 In my every day life, I work to be patient and kind with all my massage clients, and with all my friends. I'm not sure how I didn't extend that to my parents. But I didn't. And I know they deserve as much kindness as I give everyone else. They do their best. They may not hear me, understand me, or be able to communicate with me. They may have their own way of doing things, that I don't understand at all. But they mean well, and they definitely want the best for me.
 So, I'm changing.
 I'm a passionate person. I am easily excitable about things that either inspire or upset me. But I know I don't NEED an opinion on everything. I certainly don't need to FIGHT for anything. Just the things that really, really matter. So I'm pledging to stop fighting with my parents. Stop being mean to them. I don't think I'll suddenly have any more patience. I've been working on that trait for 25 years and it's not gonna change. But I can extend the same kindness to them that I hopefully employ in the rest of my life. And I hope you will too. Who are you being mean to?

2 comments:

  1. Good post. Whether it's mountains our of mole hills or something else, we continually fight about waaaay too much and not enough for the things that really matter. Remember this speech from City Slickers?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k1uOqRb0HU

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  2. Thank you Anonymous. I love that movie. And I'm still searching for my one thing I think.

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