Some People Don't Get It

OK - what started this blog was a book I'm reading by Stephen Colbert entitled, "I Am America (And So Can You!)". Stephen has a show on the Comedy Channel here in the USA which is hilarious. He depicts an uber-conservative person who spouts ultra-conservative hyperbole, when he is, in fact, quite liberal-minded, so the viewers know it's comedy. He doesn't actually believe in the things his writers give him to say, and some of the best moments on the show are watching him struggle to deliver his lines with a straight face. I love the times he just loses it on camera, often times mentioning the bet he just lost when he laughed out loud. (The content is usually way beyond anything any politician or religious conservative would ever say.) Rolling Stone did an excellent piece on him and Jon Stewart of The Daily Show here.

Only I've learned that sometimes people don't know he's making a joke, they think he's serious, and that he's right. Oh wow. It scares me that there can be folks who are that far from rational thinking that they believe he's serious, believe he means what he says, and believe he's right. I can't change those folks, and I can't control them (I've tried, one of them is my nephew!)

So when I read bits and pieces of his book which just crack me up (as they are intended to do) I sometimes hesitate to share, in case I'm talking to someone who thinks he's for real.

Nickelback is a rock band who sings a song called Rockstar on their "All The Right Reasons" album. The song is a tongue-in-cheek spoof of "typical" rockstars, and not something the band actually aspires to be like, yet my local radio station has begun editing the song when airing it. That just infuriates me because the band is not serious, and of all people, the radio station should know that. Furthermore, they have been bleeping out the references to drugs, yet leaving in everything else, including the stuff referring to booze, sex, food, money, and other generally unhealthy behaviors. What a message this sends to kids.

But again, I can't control the radio station, nor change them.

It's really hard to feel helpless in life. It's hard to deal with family members and others who don't think like I do. It's hard to deal with ignorance and injustice. The only truth which is unchanging is that we are all responsible for ourselves, and that the Law of Reciprocity is alive, true, and real. Reciprocity is both negative and positive, and it never fails. So even when dealing with those who don't get it, I've found it's best to focus on the positive, send out positive energy, and let go of the negative. I don't have to worry about convincing someone of the error of their ways, life is naturally reciprocal.

It's not always easy to let go of negative emotions, but it's crucial to my well-being. Where my thoughts are is where my heart is. That which I dwell on is what the universe will provide to me with no malice of thought. It simply is true that life is not always fair, nor is it always good and kind. And I must let go and move on, keeping my focus on the good I find around me, or else I will become mired in the negative.

I do not allow the words and actions of other people to threaten or harm me. I am not in charge of teaching them the "truth", I am only in charge of living my own best truth. I believe that the best way to effect change in the world is through my own actions which spread out in ripples which become waves that will eventually have some positive effect.

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