Seen and Unseen, Echoes and Smoke

We aren't ever completely what we seem to be.
The world has far more grey than we acknowledge.

We might be misconstrued as bold because we
seem tough-as-nails.

We might appear callous because we're focused.

Others might interpret independence as disinterest.

But the people who appear to have it made--who
seem to have no trouble doing the tough stuff--
generally are just stepping into the shoes and
letting it happen.

Every single day that I get up, I feel all of the dredge
and flotsam pulling at me and tempting me, but I
make a choice as to what way I'll go and what
response I'll have. Getting up isn't easy, but I
do it. Leaving the house is agony, but I do it.
Dealing with people and all the inanities and all
the nonsense--I hate it. But I do it, and push through.

And every time it gets easier to overcome. It doesn't
disappear, but it gets easier. As I find I am more
capable than I thought I was, I recognize my strengths
and build on them. Strength, courage, ability...
they may not be innate, but that doesn't make them
inaccessible.

I am not limited to what I see myself as capable of;
I can do what I need to.

I  am not fearless;
I choose to walk through fear.

I am not invulnerable;
I choose to endure, anyway.

I am not as strong as others;
I choose not to restrict myself with that.

I am not the most accomplished;
I choose to be content within myself.

I am not understood or accepted by most;
I choose to appreciate me.

****************************************************

"Holy-Rolling Through the Deep"

FANATICISM

is also an addiction.

(And yes,

with equally dire results.)

***

Massive Tomes or Cloud-based Homes?

Life just happens...

Don't over-analyze it.

LIVE.

***

Armageddon Tired of All This!

These days, there aren't a lot of "Eggs-or-cereal" level decisions that
are plaguing the old cerebellum.

No, everything seems pretty amped up to world-altering, mind-
shattering, status-quo-erasing elements of style and destruction.

Decisions over health care choices and surgeries, impending loss of
(and precipitating deterioration of) parents and other aging family,
poor health and finances of friends, living situation problems, loss of
transportation, conflict with lawyers and agencies, massive headaches
over finances, and so on!

Never a dull moment, right?

And the thing is, that everyone I know is being besieged with
similarly life-and-death type muy importante matters on a regular
basis. (And all the doomsday scenario worriers, all the extremist
anti-Obama fools who are buying guns and seceding from the country
and losing their minds aren't helping jack!)

It's just a really wild and crazy time to be alive right now, at least
for a good many of us. And make no mistake; money helps. Money
gives the power of choice and freedom and option a whole host of
problems that--with money's aid--become inert non-issues.

But even those with money, especially those unaccustomed to loss
and doing without, are having a tough go of it.

Making major adjustments is difficult in the best of circumstances,
but with so many areas of people's lives affected at once (as well as
so many people being affected at once,) it can create the notion that
we're out of control...that things are at an end. But we aren't.

Stressed, certainly.  Whelmed on some days. Confused, exhausted,
scared, uncertain.....but always in charge. Able to take a moment and
consider options. Capable of making choices with a more rational,
less emotional mindset. Aware of the essential life lesson that 'it can
all change in a moment.'

But we aren't being singled out. We aren't helpless. We don't have to
take the lumps and be docile. We can see things in new ways, learn to
fight back, become better equipped to handle stress.

There may never be a "making it back to the old days" and yet there
is most certainly hope and help that comes from within as we transform
and ascend, even in our darkest hour...even if all seems lost and no one
is at our side.

Everything we need is within...if only we will let it shine.

This isn't the end of anything...save certainty, complacency, and collectivism.
About damned time.

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Devastating: Mitt Romney Flip Flop Videos

"Just Say 'NO!' "

"Keep it SIMPLE, 'Stupid!'"

(Now that's spiritual and uplifting!)

Subjugation makes better mindless minions!

Remember; loads of good comes

from believing whatever you're told

and not asking those pesky questions!

A one-track mind is definitely the answer

to a life of single-mindedness and weakness!

***