October Is Here, Make It a Good Month!

Hello and Happy October 1!  One of my favorite months of the year, hands down!  On my way to work this a.m., I was thinking of how this is the day I first becamse someone's aunt - my nephew Chad was born 51 years ago today.  That was a big year for better and for worse in our family, but Chad's arrival was definitely the highlight.  Now he's a big shot attorney in Tucson, Arizona, so I don't really see or hear from him that often, but boy did we have fun when he was a little kid!  That was when I made a conscious decision to become the favorite aunt through buying the love of my nieces and nephews, and I have to say, it continues, even with their kids.  I think it also helped that we don't have any children, so whenever we would see any of them, there was no one else to grab our attention.  But I can highly recommend buying the love of nieces and nephews, if you are wondering ... 😉

Anyway, today I've decided to take part in Three on Thursday with Carole and others.  I'm sharing three things I will never understand that seem to be huge problems to other people.

1.  Dealing with negativity on social media.  Oh I know it's there, and I know it can be devastating.  What I don't understand is how/why people don't just avoid it.  All social media sites allow you to choose who/what you follow.  You are the one in charge of your account.  So if someone offends you, disagrees with you, upsets you, whatever, unfriend, unfollow, or even block them.  Don't follow news or other sites that are nothing but dreck, or misinformed, or negative.  I am still all too well aware of all the awful people/awful news in the world, but I don't torture myself by re-reading/reliving it every time I look at a post on social media.  You're an adult, and it's up to you to do what you can to keep your sanity.  Also, in spite of what so many seem to think, you are also not required to spend time on social media.  At all, even ever.  I am not a perfect person by any means, but I guess I am much more selective about how I use social media and who I choose to connect with, so that even though occasionally something comes up, I'm not in a stressed-out tizzy all day, every day (at least not about that!).  And granted, some days I waste a ton of time on the computer, but most of the time, I just check in a few times.  It's not that difficult.

2.  People who complain about the cold, but refuse to wear warmer clothes.  It's starting to cool off considerably here in Philadelphia, as happens when autumn comes along.  I know more than one person who is already complaining about how uncomfortable they are.  One of them absolutely refuses to ever wear socks, being of the belief that "women shouldn't wear socks."  (Yeah, I don't get it either.)  So all she complains about is that her feet are cold all winter.  No sh*t, Sherlock, what do you expect?  Another doesn't want to spend money on a winter coat, because she grew up in southern Alabama, and "never needed one."  Fine.  Except this isn't southern Alabama, and it gets cold here, so if you aren't going to do one basic thing to keep yourself warm, No.One.Cares.  As they say in southern Alabama, Bless her heart.

3.  The whole "Pull Yourself Up By Your Bootstraps" thing.  You know the argument that people who are poor or depressed or unemployed, etc. just aren't trying hard enough.  There will always be people who really can't be bothered to try hard at anything.  But most people try the best they are able to do.  Plenty do not have BOOTS much less the proverbial BOOTSTRAPS in the first place.  I think everyone needs to think of another saying - "If you want peace, work for justice."  

Get a grip, everyone.  No one else is you, just as you are no one else.  I know it's something that is really hard for me to remember (due to living in a completely Bridget-centric world at least in my head), but if I can manage it, so can you.

Let's all try to do better in October, OK?