It is abnormally cold this morning. I let my cat out before going to work and she immediately wanted to get back inside of the house. I shooed her back out, got my things together and jumped in the car to go to work. My car showed it was 20 degrees Fahrenheit (-6.6 degrees Celsius), which stopped me in my tracks. I stopped the car and went back inside to let the cat back in the house. No wonder she wanted to get back in! It is freezing! I then went to my daughter to see if she wanted me to give her a ride to the bus stop since it is so cold and what do I find her wearing? A thin top layered on top of another thin top with her pajama bottoms and flip flops. Let's not forget to mention she was painting her toes black as I walked in her room. Right now in our area teenagers are wearing pajama bottoms to school. The pajama bottoms are the long wooly-type pants. My daughter has never done this before, but I just bought her a new set of pj's and now she's wearing them to school.
My first reaction was to tell her to change clothes. I then decided to approach it from a different angle and told her that it is 20 degrees outside and she's going to freeze. That didn't perturb her one bit. She said that it would be no problem and she would be OK. I then wanted to tell her to change clothes and then she said that just in case she had a pair of jeans in her bag to take to school. My mind then went to war going back and forth between should I tell her to change clothes or not and then I realized, her body isn't hanging out, everything is covered appropriately, I may not want her to wear pajama bottoms to school, but all the kids are doing it and if this is the one fashion she wants to copy from the other teens, it's not a bad one. So, I bit my tongue and asked her if she wanted a ride. I have to admit that since the pajama bottoms are cute, she did look quite stylish. It will be fun when she gets older and I can pick on her about this and tell her children when they complain to me that their Mom won't let them wear what they want. In fact, I'm going to take a picture of her when I get home for evidence in future years.
I rode the elevator after getting to work with a lady who is a cleaner in my office. She is a young girl and we talked about how cold it is outside. She told me that she literally ran to work because it was so cold. I asked if she liked running and she said that she didn't have a choice because she doesn't have a car. Hearing this just stopped me in my tracks. I live in an area where there are no public modes of transportation and you really need a car to get around, which is why I thought she enjoyed running because I couldn't imagine she would walk to work. People just don't do that here. As I walked to my desk I realized how lucky I am and how grateful I should be.
Here I am with a thick coat, perfumed neck, nails done, nice purse, walking to my desk because I have a job. I drove to work in a car that not only displayed the temperature outside, but heated my butt as I drove because it has seat warmers. I left a house that is warm enough that my cat wanted to get back inside, with beautiful mosaic floors my husband made and a bedroom that my husband worked on that was considered beautiful enough to be in a magazine. My house has a pool, two sweet dogs, three bedrooms and two baths. There is even one bedroom we don't use because we don't need it. My husband has a studio that is 800 square feet and is part of the house that he can work in at his leisure. Thinking about all of this really made me realize something (and please excuse my language):
I need to shut the fuck up and quit whining about whether I get this job or not and whether it's 8K less or not.
I just need to be quiet.
I am damn lucky in my life.
Why does it take seeing a girl who has a more difficult life to snap myself out of this negativity concerning this job? I have been whining like a broken record and I need to just STOP IT. I recently heard that 100,000 jobs were lost just this past week in the US. Two million have been cut since January. Yesterday I also heard that they are going to be laying off people here at work. In fact, most of the contractors will be gone by April or May. That means in this small area a lot of people will be looking for work and the local market will be congested with people looking for a job. At least, AT LEAST I have something in the works. AT LEAST there is a company that wants me to work for them and we only have to go through this legality of my contract company. AT LEAST this company has experienced no negative effects from this upside-down economy and if anything, gave their employees a bonus of 5K or more just a few weeks ago! That is unheard of in these times!
So I just need to shut up! I am SPOILED AS SHIT! What a whiner I am! I do apologize. I'm glad I came to my senses. It is about damn time.
9 comments:
I have found that contentment and gratitude are not particularly natural to the human condition and must be cultivated if they are to flourish. It takes work to lay aside the mindset of self concern that we are trained in and step back to see the bigger picture. In other words, congratulations on breaking the mold, now keep it broke.
Me & Haley are on our way to live in your empty bedroom, what with your mosaic floors and your POOL! :) Mwwwwwwwwwwah, you whine all you want honey, this is YOUR blog!
Me & Haley are on our way to live in your empty bedroom, what with your mosaic floors and your POOL! :) Mwwwwwwwwwwah, you whine all you want honey, this is YOUR blog!
Gee, that cat does sound spoiled ;)
And what's up with the pj bottoms?
It's good you can feel this way, but don't feel you have to. It's all relative.
Glad to hear you sounding positive anyway xx
It's good to get some perspective at times - getting so caught up in what you want that you fail to consider what you have can make you miserable.
But "want" is good. It's what pushes us forward. Where would you be without it?
I live across from the high school and every so often I see girls wearing PJ bottoms and I have to do a double take. I do find it a little odd, but as you say, there are worse fashions to follow out there.
Well, sometimes it is kind of hard to appreciate what you have when you are in a difficult mindset. Every now and then we suddenly get a "moment of truth" and make some changes.
There is a book you may like to read called Affluenza by Oliver James. Bit of an eye opener and you may find it interesting.
As Brent Digg says.. congratulations. That's a big thing you know.. realising that there are other people in the world who are struggling with the day to day.
More importantly than that, it is so wonderful to see you in such good form. Hugs and love to you
it's cool to hear how other people are doing sometimes so that we realize how lucky we are.
you're not a whiner. just a normal person with problems that sometimes crowd your vision. :) take care!
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