Balance and Equilibrium

It's cliche time! :-)

Equilibrium....ahhhh! Sweet balance. But, isn't it so difficult to achieve? Something is always outweighing something else. Nasty. If only we could whip up a quick balanced chemical equation and solve this ever-revolving, multicolored dilemma?

Let's face it. It never happens. But, all we can do is strive for it. Make an honest effort to achieve it, even if we know it'll require more than an honest effort..................

WOAH! I've awakened, everyone. WHAT A DREAM. EQUILIBRIUM? Ha ha ha. What's that?

As I grow older, things are coming into focus, but with focus comes a search. A mystery. A challenge. A realization for a need to be silent. For a need to be substantial. For a need to just be nice. For a need to not seek revenge. To not find pleasure at any cost in someone else's pain. To seek new adventures. To like music you've never heard. To listen to someone's old story and realize how irrelevant it might be to everyone, but how important it might be to you. With age, you're forced to reflect upon things that make you tick. And things that just plain tick you off. :-)

The things that just unabashedly annoy the daylights out of me (in no particular order):

• Lack of cleanliness (This one I don't contribute to in any capacity. I shower twice a day. It's offensive when others don't. It also says a great deal about one's self respect. It drives me nuts when people don't value this).
• Lack of good posture (This one's not my business. But, after a life filled of educational experiences, I've been really keen on what poor posture says. It says "I'm not confident." One's mouth may speak certain words or one's fingers may type them. But, overall body language basically says it all.)
• THE "YES" PERSON! (This is a chart-topper for me! I cannot bare to be in the presence of this person. I love it when someone has been everywhere you have, loves everything you love, eats all the same things, and if you scaled the Eiffel Tower, this person has, also...twice. These people say what they believe you want to hear. They usually don't mean a word of it. Chances are, they want attention.)
• PDA (This is ridiculous. Girls that have to be territorial. Why, I ask? Is there a reason you have to make sure other girls know? It just makes you look desperate and insecure. What is there to prove? If you have a twinkling relationship, nothing needs to be said. "All women are flirts, but some are restrained by shyness, and others by sense." --François de La Rochefoucauld)
  
• The old joke or phrase that becomes the crutch of any conversation (OK, everyone's probably done it in a moment of awkwardness. But, when you have nothing in common....the same old phrase should raise the old Jolly Roger.)
• When education is not held at top priority (It just bugs me. Maybe because I held down a serious job and my grades were still reflective of a serious student. Hello, Summa Cum Laude.)
• Manipulation and drama (These go hand-in-hand. When you find drama, usually manipulation is lurking in the background. It's unnecessary and unfounded. Here's a concept, TELL THE TRUTH.)
• Lies (I need not elaborate.)
• Ignorance (I love it when people have the answers and have never been to that metaphorical place, "there." But, YOU'VE been "there" and BACK.)
• Time (There is not enough. Ever. Or else there's too much. Wasted.)
• Spite, vindictiveness, and revenge (As Ghandi once said, "An eye for an eye only makes the whole world blind.")
• "Creeping" (Aka stalking in adult lingo. The Internet is an enabler. Let's reflect. While it's an awesome means of communication, it also perpetuates trouble. No, you don't need updates on what everyone else is doing. It's REALLY annoying when YOUR status goes to someone ELSE'S phone. First, are you close enough for that? Second, is it YOUR business and how does it affect YOU? And last, gee, if you were that close, would you NEED those updates? Wouldn't you already know? Go get your own life. It's not imperative to interpret and conjugate every little word left on Twitter or as a FaceBook status. I mean, REALLY?)

But, when I think of these things that could essentially bring any man "down," I realize...there are WAY more things that make me smile, make my cheeks hurt, and make my heart flutter. And while I cannot "save the day," or "change the world," these following things will help me muddle through this crazy place.

• GOD. (Period.)
• My husband (The blessing is that I'm not aimlessly searching for something that may or may not complete me. I've been blessed to have had it find me and hit me like a ton of bricks...so much so that ten years later, I'm still not wandering in search of that special someone. Or wondering if that certain person is true to me. I know where his heart is and he knows mine is right in his hands.)
  
• My family (They are an unexplainable treasure to me that cannot be desecrated.)
• Buttons (Why not?)
• Bright colors and sunshine (Ditto.)
• Music, Photography, and Antiques (Because they are my hobbies that are a mental release to me when things become overwhelming.)
• Topsail Island (I feel whole when I am there)
• Uniqueness (It's unattainable for most)
• Making food for other people (Nothing better than the very most primal concept of food...mere survival...feeding people you love is an indescribable feeling)
• Chinese proverbs (I love to think. These always synthesize my feelings and actions)
• Being organized (It's just how I function.)
• Teaching children how to read (This might be my most pivotal 'I get it' moment. I have never had a feeling of more success and importance, a feeling that I did get a piece of changing the world, as when this happens. I teach reading, so this is inspirational to me.)
• Shoes (I'm a woman; I cannot resist.)
• Morale. (I think this one is missing in the world. If we could work together to restore it, we might FORCE the world to change. It has to be the foundation of everything. This might just be the key.)
• Choice. (This is something that always lends to more "open doors." With choice, there is no settling. Choice is freedom.)

Now with the latter list, I could go on forever.

I live by one quote that I'd like to share: "Do what you feel in your heart to be right. You'll be criticized anyway." Eleanor Roosevelt.

One day, if these things could all just blend together and we could find a nice way to balance, we might achieve (at least a feeling of) equilibrium. Until then, it gives us something to do...something to work for in this life. That certainly can't be bad. :-)