Drama Free Zone

Life is not perfect.

Shocking statement but absolute truth.

Honestly, I believe that many people never learned that as a truism and therefore become both disappointed and drama filled when things do not work out according to their finite view of what is acceptable and how to deal with what is not.

I was raised by a Daddy who always told us important truths to live by:

* There is no such thing as a free lunch. That which you receive for "free" was actually paid for by someone else OR you will be paying for it later by owing someone a "favor" for the lunch.
 
* Life isn't fair. You shouldn't expect that it will be either.

* Sooner or later, someone  you count on to be there for you will let you down. They are human and fallible and make mistakes. Forgive them.

* No one is perfect, not even in their intentions. Set your expectations of people's behavior much lower and you won't be disappointed nearly as often.

* Murphy was an optimist.

* Your attitude is your choice. No one decides for you if you are going to be mad, if you are going to be a poor sport or if you are going to be ungracious. You determine that all by yourself.

* No matter how other people treat you, act like you have some raising and treat them right even if they are being a jerk.

I could go on forever. Daddy didn't spend a lot of time sugarcoating things so that life would always be pleasant or easy for us to endure. Instead, he prepared us for the rocky road that ALWAYS shows up on our personal GPS toward our goals.

There is no escaping the truth. Everyone - EVERYONE - has a hard time at some time. No one is exempted.

There will NEVER be a time in your life in which you will get your way in every circumstance.

English teachers tell you that "always" and "never" statements are to be avoided like the plague. However in this circumstance, I believe they are applicable as a statement of fact.

Each day, I read the news and the headlines are often disturbing. It is a living example of the love of men waxing cold. People are showing their carnal and devilish sides in a daily display of man's inhumanity to man. And lest people think only men are brutes, witness the continual parade of women who have forsaken the softer natures God intended for them to cultivate who instead seem to be in a grinding competition to be vulgar, mean-spirited, coarse and uncultured as if that somehow equates to being "manly" in our society.

I'm ready to create signs for a "DRAMA FREE ZONE". I'd like to post them prominently around my own property then expand to a broader world.

Within those zones would be educational outreach instructors who would explain that when you open your life up to the criticism of the world, you shouldn't be surprised that the vultures pick your bones and strip out every little giblet of juicy goodness to leave you as a mere shell of your former self.

There would be opportunities to show that no matter what happens that you can select your response to the circumstance and to practice grace in a classroom setting with daily field trips into the real world for practical application.

Oh what a dreamer I am! Seriously, I believe a good dose of Daddy's wisdom would heal a lot of the drama that people fuel their daily lives with under the mistaken belief that yelling is the same as solving a problem.

Oh well. Back to the laundry. It isn't going to fold itself.