Why do I get the "bloom where you are planted" speech when I least need to hear it?
It was a slightly different version but it amounts to the same thing. I've noticed that I hear it the most from people who are happy and don't have to struggle all that much. Even if they are correct, which I'm not willing to admit at the moment, it's really hard to take from someone who is in a comfortable place and is enjoying success.
Without making this a complete downer of a post, I'm just wondering... Since there is no utopia can we say that there are better places? What I mean is, is it possible that there could still be a better place to be?
I'm so tired of struggling. I'm mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted. So the last thing I want to hear from someone is that if I just change my attitude that things will get better. Easy to say when things are going well. So hard to put into practice when there is no end in sight to the daily struggle.
3 comments:
Just a half hour ago, my dh said to me, "Wouldn't life be perfect if we lived at the Jesuit Retreat House"? This is a very secluded, wooded area right in the middle of the city. I answered, "If I were physically healthy, it would be perfect." Then I thought some more and added "And if my mental anguish would be relieved". I thought some more and then had another item too. And so on and so on. Life is not perfect here on earth but I would think some situations are closer to heaven than others. For instance, I'm glad that I am married to the love of my life. I could just as easily be married (as in tied to) a real scumbum.
Life is hard -- a policeman friend of ours says that life is a series of bad events tied together with a few good times. I think (at least for me) the key is to cherish those good times whenever they come, endure the hard times as they will surely come and rest in the knowledge that my real life, peace and joy resides outside myself in Christ Jesus.
I have not reached the point where I can rejoice in my suffering. I am still too busy just living through it.
I theoretically know people mean well when they say such things to me. I usually feel like smacking them, though. It just sounds so trite.
I'd change my attitude if I wasn't so tired. Like Presbytera, I'm too busy surviving to have the perspective I should on the difficulties of daily life!
I think "I'll make the best of the situation" is a little healthier and less annoying than "Bloom where you're planted!"
Even though there is no utopia, not all places and situations are equal. And, yes, having a good attitude can help the way you are feeling but it won't make church closer, money less tight, your house bigger, or take care of any of the other very real issues that you are facing.
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