Thursday, October 23, 2008

Want To Know A Secret...?

Want to know a little secret? I finally figured out that I let the little things in life, things I have absolutely no control over, piss me off! Over the course of the past few months I have done all in my power to remain level headed and somewhat positive about nearly everything.

The truth is that a normal person, including me, cannot be completely positive all the time...unless he/she is a saint. And folks, Saints We Ain't !! It would be nice if we could all manage to withhold our own true feelings in order to make someone else feel better about their day, I know. But the fact is, we all have bad days! Once in a while, we all need to rant a little. On a rare occasion, we feel the need to lash out at someone or something, real or imagined! That's human nature. Always has been, always will be.

That's one of the beauties of being a writer, even if it's only a writer of a blog like this. When things build up, we have the choice of taking it out on the keyboard. We can get it out of our system by merely writing about it and not sitting there just thinking about it, letting it fester and expand in our heads until we finally go ballistic like a wronged postal worker!

I spent the better part of my life trying to always be what someone else thought I should be, doing what someone else said I should do, acting like others told me I should act and in short, being everything but myself. I have worried too much about what others thought and said about me. I spent way too many years in jobs I didn't like, living in places I didn't want to live in, dressing in a manner different than what I really wanted.

After years of getting the right haircut, drinking the right wine or beer, buying the right car, eating the right foods, reading the right books, watching the right television shows, casting the right vote, making the right plans for the future, and following the right rules I finally said ENOUGH!!

See, this is the reason that you have to have really good friends, at least one or two! When you get to the point to where you say STOP THIS INSANITY...you need someone that understands or at the very least tries to understand what you are saying. Luckily, I do have a couple of friends just like that! And let me say for the record "God Bless 'Em" for just being there for the times when I need them to be.

So from now on, I am going to do and say exactly what I want, not what someone else says is best. I'm reminded of a verse in a song from long ago that said it best. "They can't even run their own life, I'll be damned if they'll run mine!"

I refuse to write only what is considered "politically correct". I refuse to only say what the present big-shots allow me to say. As of today, I refuse to sell my soul to any Devil at any price! All choices from now on, for good or for bad, will be mine and mine alone. That's the way it should have been from the start, but due to a lack of backbone never was. At least there will hopefully come a time when I can sit on my porch in my rocker and say "well, it's been a long and bumpy road, but Man...it was worth it!"

Now, I don't know about you, but I feel the need for some fresh coffee. Want to join me?

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well alright then! Don't know what set you off, but good for you! I know (it's been brought home to me lately) that I have done the submissive thing most of my adult life, and I may just follow my big brother's lead! It's about time I get some backbone, too! Can't remember the last time I followed you and then regretted it, so let's take the plunge together, whadda you say? Thanks, Bubba.

Cat Melton said...

Well, all I can say is:

A really good blog is fixin' to get even better!!!

Have whatever kind of day you'd like, Friend...lol

;}

Cat

js said...

Hey Jim, a coffee question for you.

Yes, I do drink instant.

Ok, having said that, I opened a fresh jar just today. Now, to preserve it's flavor further, should I store that jar in a cool dark place like my cupboard, or should I promptly put it in the freezer?

I've researched the answer and most of them talk about fresh coffee, beans and grains. And still even in that case the answer is not clear (as beans would have to be defrosted for about 4 hours at room temperature).

Do you, oh great coffee Guru/Master have an answer for us instant coffee devotees?

js

Anonymous said...

I have today off so I think I will do whatever I want too! (I know, you say I have been off since the day I was born...a lot of truth to that also!) Let me guess the "set off" valve! Remember, I love you. To Baby Sis, who told you you were submissive?

HermitJim said...

Hey Sis...you know, if we get enough of us followers to join together, maybe we could RULE THE WORLD!!! On second thought. who in their right mind would rule the world out of choice? Not me...
Thanks for coming by and for the cool comments. Love ya, Sis!


Hey Cat...I really appreciate you bringing your smile around this morning! Glad y6ou think the old sounding board is good and hope you continue to come around cause we need all the smilingg faces we can get!
You have a great day, my friend!

Hey Johnski...If I were you, I would put the instant coffee straight into the freezer. The coffee bean only suffers from freezing before it is ground. Once ground, it actually is suggested by experts that the grounds be kept in the freezer to preserve the freshness.
Hope that helps! Thanks for stopping by, Big Guy!

Hey "B"...good to see ya this morning! Glad you have the day off and hope that you can get something done...but only if you want too! I'm thinking it would be a great day to read a book and drink a lot of coffee...
Can you believe it's down to 54 degrees here? Good napping weather!
See ya, Sis...I love ya a bunch!

blondie said...

Wow Jim,
I don't know what set you off either but I like it!

Take control.
Put your foot down if you need to.
Enough is enough!
Its your life and nobody can live it but you!

Phew, now that even made me feel better, lol
Now let's have that coffee :)
Later friend,
blondie

HermitJim said...

Hey Blondie...I was hoping you would drop by this morning! Always makes my day a little brighter to see ya. I'm glad you enjoyed the post.

Isn't it funny how many of us harbor some of the same feelings, but just never act on them? A post like this can often touch something inside all of us, making us see that we are all in the same frame of mind sometimes...

Hope the trash got picked up yesterday...see ya later!

Manu said...

More power to you Jim!!! Your blog today had quite some emotions behind it, i could feel it.
You are right we all feel like this sometimes and we need to let it out. Hope you are feeling relieved and better now...
Enjoy whatever you doing be it the coffee, the book or the nap. :o)

Manu.

HermitJim said...

Hey Manu...I sure do thank you for stopping by today. Glad you could see how strongly I felt when I was posting it. I do feel better and I am glad I didn't offend anyone...but if I did, get over it!

See ya later...

js said...

Hey Jim. After I posted that query about that coffee I went back and read your post.

Welcome aboard. I gave up caring what folks thought of me long time ago.... I could not possibly manage all those opinions, right? Right. That's when I also started learning about the ego and its script and its system, here, in this ego-made realm we call this Universe, or Earth for now.

Well, you'll see. Life is better when you're free. Or relatively free. Because you can be free in any situation, even in prison. It's a choice. Good to have you here on this prison planet Jim! Let's see what we can do and what we can enjoy.

johnski

HermitJim said...

Hey John...think I finally decided that I would be my own person, which of course I always thought I was.

Wonder why it takes us so long to see the light, so to speak?

Another mystery...ain't they fun?

Lydia said...

Good morning Jim,

Am sure you're feeling much better by now. Sounds like we've both had a crummy start today. Looks like you've had many friends and family cheer you up already but I'll chime in with the rest!

Nothing wrong with saying how you feel. Not ever. Have a great day!

lydia

HermitJim said...

Hey Lydia...thank you for the kind comments. Actually I posted this at about 1:00 am, so I was still carrying the baggage from yesterday with me. You would think I would have learned by now to put it to bed...

Oh well, better late than never, right?

Thanks again fotr the visit!

Lydia said...

Hi Jim,

Ohh sorry, I didn't even look to see when it was posted.

Nothing ever really gets put to bed, you know? We just cover it up, but its always there unless we work through it. Sometimes it's just as simple as saying..No more of this! as you have said, other times it's not so simple. Carrying baggage since last night is nothing Jim, many of us hold on to baggage for the most part of our lives. This stuff can't be pretended away. It's really best to just look at the gunk and throw it away.
:)
Hope you feel a slight better by doing so.

lydia