Thursday, September 20, 2012
Liberty
If we believe that we can't make everything black and white then why do we believe that we can make everything red and blue?
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Friends of the Friendless: How those with ADD/ADHD struggle with friendships
Its kind of become a goal of mine to not only educate myself on ADD/ADHD but to find ways to help others understand how we think. One thing coming to mind right now is the episode of I Love Lucy where she thinks everyone forgot her birthday and then she meets the friends of the friendless. I think pretty much everyone can relate to the way Lucy felt and I don't think there would be anyone that wouldn't be overjoyed when everyone yelled happy birthday. I've been realizing in the last couple of years just how hard it is for me to make and keep friends and now that I'm doing some research I'm finding that the biggest reason is because of a lot of second guessing. When my mind has a lack of stimuli it starts second guessing everything that I have done and trying to figure out what I did wrong to cause this pain but not really understanding that the pain is more of just a lack of stimuli.
I look at my 1 yr old niece and see how she can be so upset over something but simply turning on Bubble Guppies will make it all better because that is a stimuli that she really enjoys. Many might say it's a simple issue of taking her mind off of the pain but the reality is that it literally takes the pain away and makes everything better. A child's brain is wired like this because they are in a serious learning stage and stimuli is of utmost importance. While I don't have any scientific quotes to support this I can say that, in my experience, someone with ADD/ADHD never fully leave this stage of their life. This isn't a bad thing and I think that calling ADD/ADHD a syndrome would be like calling someone who is 6'4" a syndrome. A person's height can be genetic and can give that person a pre-disposition of being great at something like basketball the same way that ADD/ADHD can be genetic and can give a good pre-disposition of being great at something as well. What makes one a syndrome/condition and the other not? Someone who is over 6' tall can try all they want to be shorter but there isn't anything that is going to change that and it's the same way with ADD/ADHD. No matter how hard I try I'm not going to be able to change the way my brain is pre-wired to behave so, like the tall person that finds that he is good at basketball, I need to find out what I am good at and how I can layout my life to work with who I am and, the same way a tall person learns quickly to duck before walking through a door, I need to learn how to avoid the same type of obstacle. The thing is, for that tall person, it often helps for someone to bring his attention to a short door that he isn't really paying attention to and an ADDer needs the same thing -- it's just more difficult because you can plainly see that someone is tall but it's really hard for someone to identify someone with ADD/ADHD. There is one additional struggle for an ADDer to avoid obstacles and that could be best compared to someone who had perfect eyesight and then had an accident and went completely blind. To someone in that scenario they know what a couch looks like, they know what a stair looks like, and they understand what these are and how to use them but they just can not see them and nothing is going to change that. For them it's about having a lot of support and learning tricks to figure out how to avoid these obstacles and, while one day they'll be able to manage just fine, it's going to take a long time of learning and above all else, lot's of support from others. Having ADD/ADHD does not mean that you don't understand what these obstacles are or even how to deal with them but it does mean that no matter how hard you try you just can not see them. We need lots of encouragement, support, and understanding but we have the potential of doing some really great things and being extremely awesome friends.
When Lucy became depressed in this episode she couldn't see that all of her friends were planning a surprise party for her and it was that lack of vision that caused her depression. While depressed she went to the park and was crying on a bench when the friends of the friendless came by and offered their support. To an ADDer this is the stimuli that is needed but it's a little different in Lucy's case because the pain was still there but it was being masked. To someone with ADD this stimuli will likely actually make everything better because we know in our hearts that all hope is not lost but because of a lack of stimuli we simply can not see this but give us stimuli and instantly our vision returns. The harder part about this scenario is that stimuli, in a distant sense, becomes like a drug to us. When the surprise party happens, our fears are totally destroyed and our stimuli and excitement boosted we, in a sense, get high. What happens is that the next day we may not have solid stimuli and we kind of have a crash -- ee go from being high to being depressed. This is why there are lots of ADDers have a really hard time on Mondays after a great weekend but after a week long vacation they are fine. It's the abrupt end to something that kills us because we don't have time to "ween ourselves off of the high".
Friendship to someone with ADD/ADHD is probably one of the most critical things in our lives followed closely by encouragement/appreciation. Unfortunately it's also one of the hardest things for us to deal with and that is mostly because our actions are interpreted by the other person in different ways. If there is a lack of stimuli for us at any given moment we frequently start trying to figure out why we are feeling so down and we start looking at what we did. If a friend forgets to call us we may know full well that these things happen but our vision of that situation isn't there... we just can not see it. Immediately we start thinking that we pissed that friend off and that's why they haven't called and the longer that this goes on the more negative we become. If the other person doesn't understand this then we run a very large risk of losing that friend simply because we just couldn't see what we already knew.
This week has been exceptionally hard for me and it doesn't make logical sense because the weekend was the best weekend I had all summer. I've been struggling to stimulate myself and, whether it's perceived or fact, I have very little friendships to support me with this. It is something that I know will pass but it always takes longer to pass when I have nothing to do and, more importantly, no one to do something with or have someone encouraging me along the way. It's a very painful place to be. If you have a friend or family member with ADD/ADHD you have a very large potential to make great things happen in someone's life and with very little effort but you first have to understand more about what ADD/ADHD is. Someday I know that I will find that one person that will truly be the greatest thing in my life (behind, of course, God) and she will be someone who will take the time to understand me and, while I know this, all I can see is that I'm 32 and still single. When it does happen I know that it will change my life forever for the better so until then I will continue to just try to be me one day at a time and try to learn better ways to make ADD/ADHD work for me. I've done it extremely well with work and I know I can do it with personal as well even if it is harder because of a lack of support.
Additional Reading:
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Suzuki Samurai = 5.9 magnitude
So today I was apparently able to confirm that driving a Suzuki Samurai is, in fact, larger than a 5.9 on the richter scale. Still amazed that everyone felt it including my family a few states north and I didn't. I do have to say it was an experience getting multiple text messages from family asking if I was ok and by time I go to reply to them I have no cell signal nor do I have it for the next hour. Things seem to be getting back to normal with cell phones now and, while I know of lots of minor damages such as water main breaks in Front Royal, there doesn't seem to be anything major going on. Maybe I'll get to feel an aftershock? :)
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Heroic Potential
he·ro [heer-oh]
noun, plural -roes; for 5 also -ros.
a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal: He was a local hero when he saved the drowning child.
For the past few weeks we have been doing hose testing and washing at our station. This is a project that requires many, many, hours of labor and being that we are a small department that labor is only spread across a handful of people. Because of the circumstances this project isn't one that we can do in a single day but one that has to be spread out. As I've spent these hours standing out in front of the station with a pressure washer in hand and sweat rolling down my back I see the people of Warren County driving by on the highway. I don't know anything about these people and, most likely, they don't know the first thing about me but the thing that I kept questioning in my mind is how many of those people realize that I, and the others working with me, are doing this for free. I wonder if they took the time to read the "Volunteer" part of our station's name or did they even skip a beat to think about it at all. I don't doubt that at least some of those people driving by are heroes in their own way. As I thought more about this I realized something very important -- a hero isn't a person directly but more of an attitude.
Think of someone, in your mind, that is a hero to you. Why are they a hero? Most likely it's because of something they did and it was probably something that they completely ignored himself (or herself) in order to complete that heroic act. The thing is that people are not born heroes and, in many ways, they aren't raised as heroes but, rather, they are raised with heroic tendencies. I'm not about to call myself a hero but I can tell you that I see members of our department that are certainly heroes in my book -- and they aren't always the ones that are running into a burning building. Sometimes you hear on the news how a firefighter pulled a child from a burning building and immediately they are tagged as a hero, and rightfully so, but what bothers me is you don't hear about the wife of that firefighter who willingly let her husband respond to that fire fully knowing that he could become seriously injured or killed. There are people that take positions in a fire department that they may really not want to do but they do it because they know the department needs them who you never hear about. You also never hear about the people who work hours upon hours organizing fundraisers to help a fire department raise money for a new truck, fire hose, or any other equipment that is required for that firefighter to do their job. How about the couple that barely has enough money to live but yet they drop the single $1 bill in the boot as they pass the firefighters collecting money along the road? Heroes seem to all have one thing in common -- they are so infrequently recognized and they so infrequently think of themselves. Additionally they are heroes because of what they do and not because of who they are.
In so many ways it is heartbreaking to watch people not only drive by but go through their lives with a heavy focus on themselves without even stopping to consider whether they are a hero to someone or not but, on the other hand, there is a lot of potential for those people to become heroes. It's one thing that is fairly unique to heroes -- they can be contagious. I've responded to calls where someone was injured or somehow in trouble and later they've come back to the station with a check to donate money which will then be used to assist in saving someone else's life. People don't always think about the impact they are making on other people until someone makes an impact on their life and as long as there are at least a few heroes in existence then the potential remains for a contagious outbreak of people helping people. While I watch our world fall further and further I can't help but hope and pray that people will someday start putting themselves aside and start displaying the heroic qualities that we so desperately need -- even if it's someone spending the time with a child who needs a mentor, working around a fire department, restoring a public shelter, giving money to a worthwhile organization, or even just saying hi to someone who has had a bad day.
We all have heroic potential -- let's all start using it.
noun, plural -roes; for 5 also -ros.
a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal: He was a local hero when he saved the drowning child.
For the past few weeks we have been doing hose testing and washing at our station. This is a project that requires many, many, hours of labor and being that we are a small department that labor is only spread across a handful of people. Because of the circumstances this project isn't one that we can do in a single day but one that has to be spread out. As I've spent these hours standing out in front of the station with a pressure washer in hand and sweat rolling down my back I see the people of Warren County driving by on the highway. I don't know anything about these people and, most likely, they don't know the first thing about me but the thing that I kept questioning in my mind is how many of those people realize that I, and the others working with me, are doing this for free. I wonder if they took the time to read the "Volunteer" part of our station's name or did they even skip a beat to think about it at all. I don't doubt that at least some of those people driving by are heroes in their own way. As I thought more about this I realized something very important -- a hero isn't a person directly but more of an attitude.
Think of someone, in your mind, that is a hero to you. Why are they a hero? Most likely it's because of something they did and it was probably something that they completely ignored himself (or herself) in order to complete that heroic act. The thing is that people are not born heroes and, in many ways, they aren't raised as heroes but, rather, they are raised with heroic tendencies. I'm not about to call myself a hero but I can tell you that I see members of our department that are certainly heroes in my book -- and they aren't always the ones that are running into a burning building. Sometimes you hear on the news how a firefighter pulled a child from a burning building and immediately they are tagged as a hero, and rightfully so, but what bothers me is you don't hear about the wife of that firefighter who willingly let her husband respond to that fire fully knowing that he could become seriously injured or killed. There are people that take positions in a fire department that they may really not want to do but they do it because they know the department needs them who you never hear about. You also never hear about the people who work hours upon hours organizing fundraisers to help a fire department raise money for a new truck, fire hose, or any other equipment that is required for that firefighter to do their job. How about the couple that barely has enough money to live but yet they drop the single $1 bill in the boot as they pass the firefighters collecting money along the road? Heroes seem to all have one thing in common -- they are so infrequently recognized and they so infrequently think of themselves. Additionally they are heroes because of what they do and not because of who they are.
In so many ways it is heartbreaking to watch people not only drive by but go through their lives with a heavy focus on themselves without even stopping to consider whether they are a hero to someone or not but, on the other hand, there is a lot of potential for those people to become heroes. It's one thing that is fairly unique to heroes -- they can be contagious. I've responded to calls where someone was injured or somehow in trouble and later they've come back to the station with a check to donate money which will then be used to assist in saving someone else's life. People don't always think about the impact they are making on other people until someone makes an impact on their life and as long as there are at least a few heroes in existence then the potential remains for a contagious outbreak of people helping people. While I watch our world fall further and further I can't help but hope and pray that people will someday start putting themselves aside and start displaying the heroic qualities that we so desperately need -- even if it's someone spending the time with a child who needs a mentor, working around a fire department, restoring a public shelter, giving money to a worthwhile organization, or even just saying hi to someone who has had a bad day.
We all have heroic potential -- let's all start using it.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
It's really been that long?
I really can not believe that it's been more than half a year since I've actually made a blog post. I don't know if I can really understand why other than I think my life has just been so confusing that I don't know exactly what to say. If you're someone that's close to me you know that there have been some serious changes in my life and, that in December, there was some serious heartbreak. Let's go back there..... not that I want to.
In the end of 2010 things, financially, were not easy for me. I was getting more and more behind on my mortgage and despite my efforts it reached the point where I became 3 months past due and CitiMortgage acted immediately. I've touched on some of this in a blog post in November but it was in December that Citi scheduled a foreclosure sale for the second time even while they knew that they weren't supposed to. It was also in December, after they scheduled this sale, that they randomly decided that my HUD counselor was no longer allowed to act on my behalf despite the fact that I provided them with that documentation and they had been speaking with her for the past few months. We called via a conference call and was told that they were going to cancel the sale but we never received any confirmation so the day after the sale was scheduled we called Citi again to verify that the sale was canceled and the agent told us that my account was in a "pending modification" status and that no sale had taken place -- it was 3 days later that someone knocked on my door with the paperwork that the house was now bank property. I won't lie.... I cried. I called my mom and cried and then I called my girlfriend and cried... oh yes, there's another event that happened in December. See, I met the perfect girl for me.... we were so perfect together and she absolutely had ALL of my trust... It hadn't been easy for me to trust girls because all of my life it seems like I've been cheated on... I don't really understand why I trusted her but I just knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she could be trusted... something that I *NEVER* thought I would be able to do again, at least not so easily. I guess within that trust I gave up a part of me that I had kept away from everyone in the past... I made a mistake and I went too far but I had never been so sure about anything in my life. She was so comforting when I called her after I knew I lost my house.... she invited me over to her friends' house and I had probably one of the best nights just hanging out and watching movies. It really seemed like neither one of us could get enough of the other -- it was incredible. Despite the fact that I was losing everything she was there for me and she made everything better and helped me deal with all of the crap going on around me -- but, sadly, it wouldn't last long.
It was a really ugly day.... snow fell like crazy and at the station we were running call after call for accidents on I66 and I was supposed to hear from her but didn't... I tried calling... no answer. I knew she hadn't slept at all the night before and she had to drive home from school that evening so I was in complete panic.... I called her friend and she was worried too and for the next few hours we all tried to figure out where she was because we thought for sure she wrecked. When we figured out where she was it became the moment that I truly did lose everything. She was at her ex-boyfriend's house... Yes, she cheated on me. I was more crushed than every in my life... I cried every day for at least the next 2 weeks... I broke down crying in front of people that I would have never dreamed I'd let myself cry in front of... I was a wreck. The people that were closest to me through the entire month will tell you that after I met her I was the happiest person alive and that they could not believe that I was the same person and that you would have never even been able to tell that I was losing my house and so many other things but then they will also tell you that just as happy as I was for that time I changed abruptly when I found out she cheated on me. I have to say that I was proud of myself in that I was still able to function. If you read back through the years of my blog you'll see that there were many times that I had something happen with a girl and it completely destroyed me to the point that I couldn't function. I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say that this time hurt more than all of the previous times put together but, yet, I was still able to do my job. It told me two things: I have grown and matured and that I loved this girl more than anyone before.
Anyone that is a Christian knows that God does provide for those that seek Him. It was no different in this situation. We had just voted in a new chief at the fire department and one of the things he brought up to me when he knew what was going on was that he wanted to start a live-in program at the station. Years ago he had lived at a fire station for 2 years and he said it was an incredible experience and he wanted to let others have the chance as well as help improve our station's call responses. Shortly before the new year I moved in and just went to my house to take care of my birds once a day and slowly started moving everything to storage. In the first part of January I found a home for my birds and I took them to meet their new friends -- their new home had plenty of other birds for them to play with and talk to. It was probably the hardest thing that I ever actually had to do. I hear reports that they are really liking their new home and I hope to soon be able to visit them but I really do miss them. Looking back having to give my birds away was about the ONLY negative thing that came from the foreclosure. I owed $190k on a house that Fannie Mae put on the market for $60k and I was sinking fast. I now have the freedom to start paying off the IRS and other debts that I have as well as actually start saving money. I get to interact with people more regularly since I love at the fire station and there are a lot of people in and out of there and I'm also able to do more of something I love -- help others. I just recently got cleared to drive Engine 4 so now I don't have to sit and wait for a driver to take me to a call. Sure, it has some frustrations but overall it's an awesome experience and God has really blessed me.
Today I still live at the fire station and I still enjoy it. I can't say that I understand my life though. I've recently been hurting quite a bit and I'm not really sure why... I think that a good part of it is loneliness creeping back in. I know for a fact that the pain of the broken heart in December is a pain that I still have and it still hurts despite the fact that I am coping with it and have moved on. I think I've recently just been feeling like I'm a thorn to a lot of people -- like a nuisance. I don't know why I feel that way but I have some ideas... Maybe it's because I complain a lot... maybe I'm just strange compared to most people... there are things that I see that might be but they are things that no matter how much I try to think about them and correct them I just can't seem to change... The reason, I think, is more because there is just something missing in my life. I know that I'm not where I'm supposed to me in my walk with God and I know that's a big part of it... They say that knowing is half the battle but sometimes it just seems so hard to actually put things into action.... you know how to fix it... you know how to get better... but you just can't seem to put it into motion.
I guess I really don't have much more to say than that. I wish that I had something to say that would provoke thought and help others but right now I don't. I hope that soon I fix me and can really start helping others and really get back to my old ways of thinking about stuff -- maybe then my blog will become active again
In the end of 2010 things, financially, were not easy for me. I was getting more and more behind on my mortgage and despite my efforts it reached the point where I became 3 months past due and CitiMortgage acted immediately. I've touched on some of this in a blog post in November but it was in December that Citi scheduled a foreclosure sale for the second time even while they knew that they weren't supposed to. It was also in December, after they scheduled this sale, that they randomly decided that my HUD counselor was no longer allowed to act on my behalf despite the fact that I provided them with that documentation and they had been speaking with her for the past few months. We called via a conference call and was told that they were going to cancel the sale but we never received any confirmation so the day after the sale was scheduled we called Citi again to verify that the sale was canceled and the agent told us that my account was in a "pending modification" status and that no sale had taken place -- it was 3 days later that someone knocked on my door with the paperwork that the house was now bank property. I won't lie.... I cried. I called my mom and cried and then I called my girlfriend and cried... oh yes, there's another event that happened in December. See, I met the perfect girl for me.... we were so perfect together and she absolutely had ALL of my trust... It hadn't been easy for me to trust girls because all of my life it seems like I've been cheated on... I don't really understand why I trusted her but I just knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she could be trusted... something that I *NEVER* thought I would be able to do again, at least not so easily. I guess within that trust I gave up a part of me that I had kept away from everyone in the past... I made a mistake and I went too far but I had never been so sure about anything in my life. She was so comforting when I called her after I knew I lost my house.... she invited me over to her friends' house and I had probably one of the best nights just hanging out and watching movies. It really seemed like neither one of us could get enough of the other -- it was incredible. Despite the fact that I was losing everything she was there for me and she made everything better and helped me deal with all of the crap going on around me -- but, sadly, it wouldn't last long.
It was a really ugly day.... snow fell like crazy and at the station we were running call after call for accidents on I66 and I was supposed to hear from her but didn't... I tried calling... no answer. I knew she hadn't slept at all the night before and she had to drive home from school that evening so I was in complete panic.... I called her friend and she was worried too and for the next few hours we all tried to figure out where she was because we thought for sure she wrecked. When we figured out where she was it became the moment that I truly did lose everything. She was at her ex-boyfriend's house... Yes, she cheated on me. I was more crushed than every in my life... I cried every day for at least the next 2 weeks... I broke down crying in front of people that I would have never dreamed I'd let myself cry in front of... I was a wreck. The people that were closest to me through the entire month will tell you that after I met her I was the happiest person alive and that they could not believe that I was the same person and that you would have never even been able to tell that I was losing my house and so many other things but then they will also tell you that just as happy as I was for that time I changed abruptly when I found out she cheated on me. I have to say that I was proud of myself in that I was still able to function. If you read back through the years of my blog you'll see that there were many times that I had something happen with a girl and it completely destroyed me to the point that I couldn't function. I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say that this time hurt more than all of the previous times put together but, yet, I was still able to do my job. It told me two things: I have grown and matured and that I loved this girl more than anyone before.
Anyone that is a Christian knows that God does provide for those that seek Him. It was no different in this situation. We had just voted in a new chief at the fire department and one of the things he brought up to me when he knew what was going on was that he wanted to start a live-in program at the station. Years ago he had lived at a fire station for 2 years and he said it was an incredible experience and he wanted to let others have the chance as well as help improve our station's call responses. Shortly before the new year I moved in and just went to my house to take care of my birds once a day and slowly started moving everything to storage. In the first part of January I found a home for my birds and I took them to meet their new friends -- their new home had plenty of other birds for them to play with and talk to. It was probably the hardest thing that I ever actually had to do. I hear reports that they are really liking their new home and I hope to soon be able to visit them but I really do miss them. Looking back having to give my birds away was about the ONLY negative thing that came from the foreclosure. I owed $190k on a house that Fannie Mae put on the market for $60k and I was sinking fast. I now have the freedom to start paying off the IRS and other debts that I have as well as actually start saving money. I get to interact with people more regularly since I love at the fire station and there are a lot of people in and out of there and I'm also able to do more of something I love -- help others. I just recently got cleared to drive Engine 4 so now I don't have to sit and wait for a driver to take me to a call. Sure, it has some frustrations but overall it's an awesome experience and God has really blessed me.
Today I still live at the fire station and I still enjoy it. I can't say that I understand my life though. I've recently been hurting quite a bit and I'm not really sure why... I think that a good part of it is loneliness creeping back in. I know for a fact that the pain of the broken heart in December is a pain that I still have and it still hurts despite the fact that I am coping with it and have moved on. I think I've recently just been feeling like I'm a thorn to a lot of people -- like a nuisance. I don't know why I feel that way but I have some ideas... Maybe it's because I complain a lot... maybe I'm just strange compared to most people... there are things that I see that might be but they are things that no matter how much I try to think about them and correct them I just can't seem to change... The reason, I think, is more because there is just something missing in my life. I know that I'm not where I'm supposed to me in my walk with God and I know that's a big part of it... They say that knowing is half the battle but sometimes it just seems so hard to actually put things into action.... you know how to fix it... you know how to get better... but you just can't seem to put it into motion.
I guess I really don't have much more to say than that. I wish that I had something to say that would provoke thought and help others but right now I don't. I hope that soon I fix me and can really start helping others and really get back to my old ways of thinking about stuff -- maybe then my blog will become active again
Saturday, February 26, 2011
"Somebody Love Me" by Michael W. Smith
Counting every moment
Biding all my time
Standing out here on my own
Searching for that someone
To heal this heart of mine
And keep me from being alone
But when will it be
And how will I know
I don't want to wait here forever
Chorus:
Somebody love me
Come and carry me away
Somebody need me
To be the blue in their grey
Somebody want me
The way I've always
dreamed it could be
Won't somebody love me, love me
I'm waiting for somebody
To dance across the floor
Sweeping me off of my feet
I'm looking for the right one
To open up that door
And offer me a tender retreat
It's like wanting to sing
But needing a song
When will I hear the music playing
Chorus
"Somebody Love Me" by Michael W. Smith
Biding all my time
Standing out here on my own
Searching for that someone
To heal this heart of mine
And keep me from being alone
But when will it be
And how will I know
I don't want to wait here forever
Chorus:
Somebody love me
Come and carry me away
Somebody need me
To be the blue in their grey
Somebody want me
The way I've always
dreamed it could be
Won't somebody love me, love me
I'm waiting for somebody
To dance across the floor
Sweeping me off of my feet
I'm looking for the right one
To open up that door
And offer me a tender retreat
It's like wanting to sing
But needing a song
When will I hear the music playing
Chorus
"Somebody Love Me" by Michael W. Smith
Tuesday, December 07, 2010
Darius Rucker "Alright"
For now I'm just going to say God is amazing.... it's been a while since I posted a song to my blog but it's well overdue.... and this one is just plain perfect!
Alright, Alright
Yeah it's alright, alright
Don't need no five star reservations
I've got spaghetti and a cheap bottle of wine
Don't need no concert in the city
I've got a stereo and the best of Patsy Cline
Ain't got no caviar no Dom Perignon
But as far as I can see, I've got everything I want
Cause I've got a roof over my head,
the woman I love laying in my bed
And it's alright, alright
I've got shoes under my feet
Forever in her eyes staring back at me
And it's alright, alright
And I've got all I need
And it's alright by me
Maybe later on we'll walk down to the river
Lay on a blanket and stare up at the moon
It may not be no French Riviera
But it's all the same to me as long as im with you
It may be a simple life, but that's okay
If you ask me baby, I think I've got it made
Cause I've got a roof over my head,
the woman I love laying in my bed
And it's alright, alright
I've got shoes under my feet
Forever in her eyes staring back at me
And it's alright, alright
And I've got all I need
And it's alright by me
It's alright by me, yeah yeah
When I lay down at night I thank the Lord above
For giving me everything I ever could dream of
Cause I've got a roof over my head,
the woman I love laying in my bed
And it's alright, alright, alright, alright
I've got shoes under my feet
Forever in her eyes staring back at me
And it's alright, alright, alright
And I've got all I need, yeah
I've got all I need
And it's alright by me
Oh yeah, it's alright by me
"Alright" by Darius Rucker
Alright, Alright
Yeah it's alright, alright
Don't need no five star reservations
I've got spaghetti and a cheap bottle of wine
Don't need no concert in the city
I've got a stereo and the best of Patsy Cline
Ain't got no caviar no Dom Perignon
But as far as I can see, I've got everything I want
Cause I've got a roof over my head,
the woman I love laying in my bed
And it's alright, alright
I've got shoes under my feet
Forever in her eyes staring back at me
And it's alright, alright
And I've got all I need
And it's alright by me
Maybe later on we'll walk down to the river
Lay on a blanket and stare up at the moon
It may not be no French Riviera
But it's all the same to me as long as im with you
It may be a simple life, but that's okay
If you ask me baby, I think I've got it made
Cause I've got a roof over my head,
the woman I love laying in my bed
And it's alright, alright
I've got shoes under my feet
Forever in her eyes staring back at me
And it's alright, alright
And I've got all I need
And it's alright by me
It's alright by me, yeah yeah
When I lay down at night I thank the Lord above
For giving me everything I ever could dream of
Cause I've got a roof over my head,
the woman I love laying in my bed
And it's alright, alright, alright, alright
I've got shoes under my feet
Forever in her eyes staring back at me
And it's alright, alright, alright
And I've got all I need, yeah
I've got all I need
And it's alright by me
Oh yeah, it's alright by me
"Alright" by Darius Rucker
Friday, December 03, 2010
Ultimately alone
It's no secret that I've been dealing with a lot recently and, to many, it's known that I have hit the point of not caring and then somehow managed to muster enough care to keep going. There is a lot to be said about the people that are around you and the people that interact making a difference in your life and that difference can be both positive and negative. Probably one of the biggest things that I feel is a huge loneliness inside and a huge lack of purpose -- ironically I think those are both directly related since if there isn't anyone else around then there really isn't any purpose for anything.
One thing that's made it especially hard for me is that, while it's true that there are people that I interact with at the fire station, I am ultimately alone. I live alone and I work alone so the majority of my life is lived alone. With all of the things that I have been facing I've ultimately been facing them alone. The thing, above all else, that bugs me the most is that anytime I've tried to express this in a facebook status or a twitter update I always get the same thing over and over again... people coming out of everywhere to say that "no, that's not true" or that I mean something to them or that I have them or whatever but ultimately those are just words. Now, granted, some of those are from family who live 4 hours away and it's no fault of theirs but ultimately they can't be what I need and it's certainly not something I hold against them. I know I have people that are praying for me and I don't want to discount what that means to me in any way because it's huge -- but when I express this aloneness that I am dealing with it's not something that is going to be solved by someone saying that they are there but, instead, its going to take action.
I don't want to sit here and blame the world tho.... I know that at least some of this falls back on me, at least according to what some others have told me. Should I be going out and meeting people? Well, sure.... but where do I find people especially when doing anything requires money which just goes right back to other struggles in my life right now but besides that, after so long you really seriously start to believe that there is no one else out there like you. You can only have so many conversations before you start to realize that you look at things in a totally different light than all of the people around you and while a part of me is proud of who I am and how I look at things there is also that huge part of me that feels more and more alienated because, well, there isn't really anyone that gets me. I'm sure that I've made subconscious choices that have led me to this lonely life that I live but then, at the same point, many of those choices may have been made to protect me because I'm guessing it's better to feel alone than to feel rejected.... but what do I know since the lonely feeling brings it's own feeling of rejection.
I don't know what the solution is... I don't know if there is one.... and this isn't really a blog asking for advice but, rather, its just trying to get things off my chest.
One thing that's made it especially hard for me is that, while it's true that there are people that I interact with at the fire station, I am ultimately alone. I live alone and I work alone so the majority of my life is lived alone. With all of the things that I have been facing I've ultimately been facing them alone. The thing, above all else, that bugs me the most is that anytime I've tried to express this in a facebook status or a twitter update I always get the same thing over and over again... people coming out of everywhere to say that "no, that's not true" or that I mean something to them or that I have them or whatever but ultimately those are just words. Now, granted, some of those are from family who live 4 hours away and it's no fault of theirs but ultimately they can't be what I need and it's certainly not something I hold against them. I know I have people that are praying for me and I don't want to discount what that means to me in any way because it's huge -- but when I express this aloneness that I am dealing with it's not something that is going to be solved by someone saying that they are there but, instead, its going to take action.
I don't want to sit here and blame the world tho.... I know that at least some of this falls back on me, at least according to what some others have told me. Should I be going out and meeting people? Well, sure.... but where do I find people especially when doing anything requires money which just goes right back to other struggles in my life right now but besides that, after so long you really seriously start to believe that there is no one else out there like you. You can only have so many conversations before you start to realize that you look at things in a totally different light than all of the people around you and while a part of me is proud of who I am and how I look at things there is also that huge part of me that feels more and more alienated because, well, there isn't really anyone that gets me. I'm sure that I've made subconscious choices that have led me to this lonely life that I live but then, at the same point, many of those choices may have been made to protect me because I'm guessing it's better to feel alone than to feel rejected.... but what do I know since the lonely feeling brings it's own feeling of rejection.
I don't know what the solution is... I don't know if there is one.... and this isn't really a blog asking for advice but, rather, its just trying to get things off my chest.
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