Wednesday, September 08, 2004

A Local Shortage of Vitriol

There are a lot of things that tick me off. I've discussed some of them here, on this blog, and on my personal website as well. There are also a lot of things that please me. Sometimes, it is hard to get all revved up about the latest idiocy being wrought in the lairs of our politicians, bureaucrats or social engineers, when things are going rather swimmingly closer to home.

I tell my son often that we have to be thankful for what we have. It is easy to get bogged down in one's (usually) temporary misfortune and while immersed in minutiae to develop an inertia that is hard to snap out of. Keeping a sense of optimism makes it easier to be receptive to the good things that might be lurking just around the next corner. Why is that? Because optimism opens us up. We look beyond ourselves and can see across the street, down the block and around the world. Pessimism shuts us down. We look only inwards. We miss all else that takes place around us, whether near or far.

I tend to look with some suspicion on those who wear a perpetual smile. Are they smiling because they simply don't understand how screwed up things are? But, I don't like to see a perpetual scowl either. If you are going to be miserable, don't bog me down in your malaise.

A lot of the blogs that I frequent are perpetually in pissed off mode. Liberals whine about conservatives, conservatives whine about liberals. Naderites howl at the moon. Libertarians scratch their collective noggins in a perplexed attempt to understand the rest.

Don't worry. I'll be in fighting form again in a day or two, but for today, I'm mellow.

Let's all take a deep breath and enjoy our lives, our families, our relative freedom.

So... no vitriol here today.

4 comments:

  1. Hi there you old throwback to a kinder time. It would seem that the days you spent venturing in Uncle Sam land have paid off. The result of your munificence, and generous brotherly love to one and all is in danger of unstinging the wasp. Easy now old fellow. Remember the importance of frequently changing your vitriol. I would regret you dulling that edge which makes everyone admire your view of this haphazard world we occupy.

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  2. I was happy to be alive yesterday. I'm even happier to be around today. More in today's post, to come later...

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  3. There is plenty in this life that just pisses me off. Every now and again I spew, vent, froth, and so forth. Generally, I try to stay away from thinking about the negative parts of life and try to see them for what they are - pieces of a much larger canvas.

    Sometimes things just don't go your way. Get angry about it, and then move forward. Wallowing in the mire is useless and self-destructive.

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  4. Hey, Pope, thanks for dropping by. It's nice to see that someone else reads this stuff.

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