Lent

Happy Ash Wednesday, everyone! I'm doing Lent a little differently this year...rather than give up something that appears superficial (in spite of my suffering),  I'm going to do something in hopes of making a change at a deeper level.

I recently saw a meme that really bothered me. It was on pinterest, and it was meant to be funny and in no way harmful, but it struck a chord. Of course, I can't find it again when I want to, but it essentially implied that the friendship among this group of girls was based on their mutual dislike of "everyone else" and their willingness to discuss it with one another...over wine.

On the surface, I suppose it was amusing...but then it hit me just how sad it would make me to have a relationship BASED on negativity towards something or someone. I mean, isn't that how wars are started? I know we've all done it. Everyone complains to their friends, and it's not always a bad thing. It's probably worse to keep your frustrations to yourself. But if your complaints turn into generalized bitterness towards a person or a population...you've done something wrong. I know I have.

I have an incredibly amazing, supportive, and witty bunch of friends. And for the most part, I have successfully excised most of the glass-half-empty people from my life over the past 2 years, and have surrounded myself with a primarily positive-ish bunch. But we still fall into these patterns where we make judgments or hate on people or certain groups because of their beliefs or a few actions in the course of their entire lives, and we mentally stick them in a box, bitch to our witty friends, and perhaps even come up with a fantastic nickname. Like Knothole.

Some people may deserve to be in that box. Time will tell. Others....I probably put there too quickly. I am going to try to do better. Not only that, but during Lent, I am going to try to find something I like or agree with every single day about one of them....whether it's a person in my life who has been unkind to me or to a loved one...a political party or group whose beliefs I find ridiculous...or an ex-boyfriend.  (MC is exempt from this activity, because nothing about him is good or right.) I won't give names...instead, I'll just try to focus on the positives. (Don't expect me to blog every day. I'm incapable of that. I'll save up and do a few at a time.) We'll see how this goes.

Oh. And no more texting at stoplights. :)