Messo has been after me to post, so here it goes:
Lately, a lot of shitty things have been going on in my life. I, like many others, will tend to get annoyed by things that in the grand scheme of the universe, are trivial at best. Things like not having an ipod, cell phone, or a driver's permit. I'll get upset if my parents don't let me hang out with friends or won't drive me to where I believe I need to be. Even big things, things that I have a legitimate right to freak out about, things that will, cause any sane person to, as I say, "tip their rocker" [go off the deep end...]
I've been trying to ground myself lately though. Not in the sense of stay at home, no Internet, no fun - but ground as in center myself. I'm trying to look at things and see the bigger picture. In 10 years, will it really matter what brand my jeans were or if I had the latest piece of technology?
I always get mad at my parents when they things like "What about all the starving kids in Africa?" But what if they have a point....
I know I'm a really anxious person. I get really hyper and really stressed out, and everything in my life seems to be taken to an extreme. That's part of the reason why I'm trying to get a new perspective. I'm not trying to totally revolutionize myself, I just want to try to relax... to call down... to take a chill pill.
The fact that "things could be so much worse" is really true. In 6th grade, I read a book called "A Child Called It". The book is the autobiography of Dave Pelzer, and it is a story that completely stopped me in my tracks.
My family life is pretty insane, but I can say that I have never been physically abused. Dave's story is one of abuse.. severe abuse. A lot of his story was hard to swallow, but I couldn't let myself stop reading.
Dave was one of five children. His dad was a firefighter, and was not around a lot of the time. His mother was an alcoholic. She singled out Dave and took out her frustration with her life on him.
The book grounded me. It opened my eyes, it proved that there really was someone out there who had it worse than me. The worst incident in the book is when Dave's mother holds his arm over their gas stove, and watches as the boy's arm is severely burned.
I cried to the point where I wanted to throw up.
As horrible as the story is, A Child Called It is one of the books that I recommend to EVERYONE. EVERYONE should read it, not because its a good book [which it is], or because its well written, [which it is], but because everyone needs to see the example that Dave is.
That he was able to survive. That he was able to live through the worst things imaginable, and go on to be a husband and a father.
So this is my challenge to you all: Go read A Child Called It.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
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5 comments:
First of all, YAY SHARON FOR POSTING.
It's great that you realize that you need to calm down a bit-I mean, I love hyper Sharon, but when there's so much that you feel like you can't take it, you can't just lose your mind and freak out...it's really best to try to stay grounded (in the way you mention). Those little things really won't matter in life, the not having an ipod and cell phone.
I would accept the challenge if I had time on my hands. SUMMER READING! Hahaha.
Um... well, I might want to disagree about the cell phone, because you might be in some sort of situation where you need to use one in an emergency, but for the most part, you might be able to find someone around you who has one, so I guess it's not all that important. That said, it might still change your life, or someone else's, to have, or not have, that stuff. If you believe all that parallel dimension stuff, there could be a million other Sharons out there, popping down the road with a brand new car, talking on the phone, while listening to their ipod over the speakers. Possible a couple of them could go *CRIGGEDY CRASH*.
I actually don't have my permit either, because my grandmother doesn't think I'm responsible enough. By the way, I'm not arguing.
I don't have an ipod either, but I certainly make off well enough with a CD player.
I do have a cell phone, but I pay for it. That, I feel, is the best way to really deal with cell phones. It really gives me a sense of responsibility with it, a reason not to spend all my hard-earned money on one place.
Despite not having those things, or having those things to such a small extent that they're useless in the ways that others use them, I'm doing just fine. In fact, I couldn't even imagine what I'd do if I did have them.
I've actually looked at my life in such terms too. I've never looked at A Child Called It, but I've always been able to imagine people worse off than I am.
I think that my life could be considered worse than some, though, seeing as my mother left me when I was six, but in retrospect, that's probably one of the best things that happened in my life. My grandparents then decided to take care of me, and I didn't have to worry about who my mother was fiddling about with.
The grandfather that I live with has cancer, but he's always had so much get up and go that he can move on.
The grandmother that I live with has such painful arthritis that she can barely get up some mornings, but she does it anyway. She's always able to help.
My uncle has diabetes and is going to have to go on dialysis soon, but he was born with it, and he's lived for 50 years. He even said that he never dreamed that he would be 50.
His wife has cancer too, and she might be fired from a job she's had almost her whole life because she's been sick. But she's as tough as her husband, and is able to keep a smile on her face through it all.
And even though all that is true in my life, I can always say to myself (not aloud, seeing as that'd jinx everything :-P) that it could always be worse. And Dave is a perfect example, even if I was, once, dragged up stairs by my shirt collar :-P.
I might read it. On one hand, I don't mind reading books that are shockingly true stories. On the other hand, I put down The Heart is Deceitful Among All Things because it depressed me and I couldn't handle the content, and that was fiction. I don't really know why, it's rare that things exceed my comfort level(Hello, I sat through Funny Games, Irreversible and Happiness) But child abuse just pisses me off. The fact that you could possibly do something so evil to a child and that people are still doing it and nobody at times seems to be doing anything to stop it is sickening. The role of a parent is to love a child and care for it, and books that have kids put in the worst freaking situation possible hits close to home. The fact that while I'm luckier, they might not be able to escape it for a while, if not ever.
We shall see, but I'm glad you are in the process of grounding yourself.
P.S: I think iPods suck!
I'm depressed that this post only has 3 (now 4) comments on it.
I've read it and you're right. My life hasn't been the greatest, but it could be worse. I've been raped, physically, emotionally and mentally abused, my house burnt down, i may not be able to have children and there's more...but my point is none of it compares to what some live every day. Great point dear.
P.S. I think you know who this is but if you don't let me know.
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