Can't Get No Satisfaction

I hear that post holiday blues are normal.  I am feeling a little blue.  Considering I am anything but normal, I wonder if this applies to me.

 I wake up every morning and go to one or both of my jobs.  I have Saturdays off every week.  I make a decent living.  It is nothing to brag about, but I can maintain my family's needs.  I come home in the afternoon, figure out dinner (or more precisely where we are going for dinner!), do laundry, help with homework and bath time, read or watch TV and eventually fall asleep.  I wake up the next morning and do it all over again.  The routine is always the same unless it is ball season.  That gets a little crazy, but it is nice to have it shaken up a bit for a couple months out of the year.

If you are reading this and you are a parent, your routine is probably very similar to this one.

Last week I read a book called The Watershed Year.  In the book, Harlan, a 33 year old guy is diagnosed with terminal cancer.  He eventually dies,but during his journey he comments on how once you realize you are dying, you crave that routine.  Apparently monotony is amazing in the face of death.  I have never been and hope to never be in Harlan's shoes, so I can't say for sure.  I am not making lite of Harlan's situation either.  I am just curious.

I am a very practical person most of the time, so when I start feeling blue, I give myself little pep talks.  I say to myself, "You have nothing to complain about.  You are blessed with good health and healthy children.  You have a nice home and vehicle.  You are blessed with intelligence and good work ethic.  You have a special person that loves you very much.  You have great friends and family."

It is easy to see where I am going with this.  I don't have anything to complain about, so why am I feeling blue?  That is the much harder part to explain.

Sometimes I think it would be better to just be ignorant.  What I mean by that is to live in a world where I did not know the difference between average and better.  If all I ever strive for was getting by and not caring to be more, I would not know the difference.  Fortunately, that is just not me.

I want to make a difference and leave my mark.  I want to think critically about issues that matter in the larger scheme of things.  I want to nail the curriculum that will give our students in America a head's up over the other developed nations in the world.  I want to make a world where no child goes hungry, feels lonely, is abused or left behind.  I want it to truly be possible to work your way to success.  I want to write books.  All of these are lofty goals.  I also know that helping others and achieving them is where I can get my satisfaction.


That is all for today!  Next blog, I am cooking up a Jerry Springer show......