Figuring out what I wanna be when I grow up.
Oop..I AM grown up...


Friday, February 4, 2011

Are We Ever Satisfied?

A Small, Silly Story

When we were little girls, we loved the idea of marriage.  If we were lucky enough to have a white wedding dress for Barbie, she got married at least once a week to Ken.  If we didn't have a Barbie wedding dress, we coveted the ones our friends had.  We didn't really know what marriage was, but in Barbie's world it was white, and satin, and beautiful, and flowers--like one big valentine event. 

When we gave up our dolls, we became obsessed with finding someone special, to be special to someone, to have a soul mate.  We wanted to hurry up and grow up, because being a kid was not good enough.  We wanted to grow up because then we would get married and have a family. 

When we finally "grew up" we needed to find our soul mate so we could get married.  We had to follow the path.  We all know what the path is, because it's what everybody tells us it is.  Our parents told us what our path should be.  Our guidance counsellors tried to set us on our path.  All of the movies and TV shows we watched told us what we should be doing. 

So, Group A found someone(s) to get married to.  Aren't they lucky.

Group B didn't find someone.  Some of them decided they weren't going to be tied down just yet.  They were going to still have fun. Others of them tried.  They tried and tried, but still felt that all the people they tried to take down their life paths were not quite right.  They figured the other people had it all.  They envied Group A

Group A did just what they were supposed to:  they had just the right amount of school, just the right type of spouse and just the right amount of children.  But all they could see was that Group B looked like they were having more fun.  They had less stress, and they weren't stuck cleaning up after kids all day, and they could go anywhere they wanted at anytime, and not be accountable to anyone.  They envied Group B

And then there was Group C. Group C are those who can not have babies. They try and try, but nothing works.  They feel their lives are incomplete, because since the time they were babies themselves, a deep biological mechanism urged them to grow and multiply.  They saw others complain and make jokes about their families.  This hurt, because they would give anything to have what Group A has.

Group D are the unfortunates.  They get diseases and die too young.  They get hit by busses, cars, trains.  Their planes crash.  Their boats sink.  They become addicted to drugs.  They go to jail.  They get stuck in bad, bad situations.  They are here to remind the other groups, if only for a minute or two, to be satisfied.  And it almost works...


until the sun comes up again.


To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else. ~Emily Dickinson

I think I've discovered the secret of life - you just hang around until you get used to it. ~Charles Schulz

Life is a cement trampoline. ~Howard Nordberg

He who has a why to live can bear almost any how. ~Friedrich Nietzsche

Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be. ~Grandma Moses

Don't think of retiring from the world until the world will be sorry that you retire. I hate a fellow whom pride or cowardice or laziness drive into a corner, and who does nothing when he is there but sit and growl. Let him come out as I do, and bark. ~Samuel Johnson

16 comments:

  1. matt and i were just talking about this,i was looking at our wedding picture, and thinking i was way prettier than i thought i was then. i always felt fat,just a little bigger than my friends,my hair was never right,etc..i now wish i appreciated how cute i was i would love to be my size 12 'fat'self again!then i thought when i am 60 i will think i looked pretty good at 38.i need to see myself as i would when i am 60,then i will be more satisfied.awsome post as always!

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  2. that anonymous,was me .

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  3. i like the quote about the cement trampoline.
    everyone mistakenly thinks it's greener elsewhere. well, except for those folks in group D. they were right, it was greener elsewhere.

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  4. yeah, I've said it before: if I could get a life size poster cut-out of myself at 20, and stand it next to me now, I think I'd wilt. Never satisfied then...sorta satisfied now (sometimes :)

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  5. yeah, that quote tickled my funny bone too, Sherilin. I was looking for some life inspiration, and actually found some. Hooray!

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  6. I am sure with out a shadow of a doubt If I had a cut out of me...it would be half my size..and too think I thought I was fat!


    I also would not mind being able to do a backhandspring on the grass or and arial cartwheel... I always said when I was a grandma I would and could do a backhandspring....well, THAT will not be happening. I stopped doing that like 8 years ago.

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  7. oh, I would probably break my arms and neck if I tried now.

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  8. actually I don't even think I can swing my arms back that far any more....mmmm

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  9. Well Melissa, as far as cartwheels and handsprings are concerned, I guess it's good that you COULD do it at one time??? Chuckle chuckle...oh how uncoordinated I was (am?).

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  10. Lol...I don't think there's much I can do these days, but I'm really good at standing stationary and washing loads of dishes! Blah, why did I make that joke--now I'm depressed >:(

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  11. I could never get the hang of the cartwheel thing !

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  12. Thanks for throwing in the infertility thing. ;-) And, yes....I think we can totally be satisfied. LOVE the quotes at the end of this post.

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  13. Well Maria, after commenting on your post, it got me thinking. So many of the blogs out there are MOMMY BLOGS. It's insane. We can so very easily take for granted what we have, no matter what that "what" is. It's nearly impossible to change this though, because none of us can live as though we or someone we love will die tomorrow.

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  14. I love that your thoughts were provoked. ;-) I think we absolutely CAN learn to live as though death is around the corner. For some reason it's easier to get upset about what isn't perfect in our lives....I don't get it. But, hey....my dog rolled in PLENTY of mud puddles before he died even though my husband hated it and my car got filthy after our muddy hikes. The smile on his face and the delight in his soul was worth it. ;-)

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  15. Aw, Maria--that was a great story. That's it! I'm taking the stick out of my @$$ and emotionally/mentally I'm going to roll in more mud puddles!

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