Five Random Thoughts

1.  You know how people used to pinch your cheeks when you were little?  If not, be ye thankful.  Well the other year (yes this thought has been a long time coming) I found myself pinching a child's cheeks.  And I've caught myself saying things like, "You are getting so big," and "I remember when you were just born."  People always said these things to me when I was little and I would just nod and think, "Like I haven't heard that before."  What does a child even say to that? "Well you're big too!"

Anyway, as I find myself saying the things I once hated, I've come to understand that I should never judge older people for their sayings.  Sometimes kids are hard to talk to, so you just say something to get the conversation started.  And sometimes the kids really do seem to have grown a foot since you last saw them.

So maybe when older people say things to me now, I'm just hearing what I'll be saying in ten years.

2.  Along with that, I feel like older people really DO have a much better grasp on life.  They are seeing things from the end of a journey.  Sort of like getting to the top of a mountain hike.  They can see the whole hike they've been on and know where the pitfalls are.  Whereas we are still on this hike, figuring it out as we go.

So the conclusion I've come to is that, these oldies, with their wider perspective want to comfort the youngsters with their knowledge and wisdom.  They tell us not to do certain things because we will regret it.  Or that we should cherish certain times, because it all goes by so fast.  And while they are most likely right, the fact of the matter is, young people don't care.  They, just like the oldies, must go through life in order to learn their own lessons.  I think the oldies just want to save us the pain they went through with their little gems of wisdom.  But we need to go through our own trials to learn for ourselves this wisdom.

I don't know what the solution is, should oldies just stop giving advice and just sit back and watch the struggle?  Or should they continue to shout out warnings down the hill, even though they won't be appreciated.

Maybe, we all just need to be sympathetic to people no matter what their stage in life.  Life sucks, no matter if you're five, fifteen, or fifty.  Maybe we should lend an ear instead of dishing out our wisdom.

I don't know, what do you think?

(Please excuse my callous use of the word "oldies", but...if you're older than me...you are an oldie, and if you're younger than me, you're a youngin.)

3.  Guys, I did this incredible drawing of Jack the other day.  I spent so long on it and it was in color (which is new for me) and it was so beautiful.  But then I took a break and went back to admire my masterpiece.  And I realized I had drawn Jack's evil twin.  I gave him demon eyes and everything.  What a waste of time and emotion.  What a waste.

4.  I'm loving this rain lately.  I think I get seasonal depression.  Just the opposite of normal.  When it's too sunny for too long, I just get bummed out.

5.  One thing I never expected from marriage was the role attraction plays.  I just assumed that the minute I got married my attraction towards any other man besides Chris would just shut off.  That is not the case.  You are still the same person.  I always read about how wives need to give their husbands slack for looking at other women.  How does the phrase go?  If you look once you're a man, if you look twice you're a...something negative.  Anyways, this phrase applies to both males and females.

I always hated how people would say that love is a choice.  How unromantic can you get?  But it's true, I choose everyday to love Chris.  I choose everyday to make Chris my one and only.  And I think the choosing is what really brings us closer together.  We invest so much in each other, and we do it consciously, and I think that makes us appreciate our love even more.


(The thoughts expressed in this blog post represent the views of the writer and may not apply to everyone.) Imagine that said very fast, like in the end of the commercial.