Perspective

Perspective: the state of one's ideas, the facts known to one.  Our perspective changes depending on our age and circumstances.  My husband is a chiropractor.  When he first started his practice, he would often come home and talk about how badly his patients complained about their back pain.  He thought many of them were just exaggerating.  One year, on Mothers' Day (of all days), when our children were young and quite a handful, he was in our backyard digging up a tree.  He pulled something in his back and couldn't even move.  He was confined to his bed for the rest of the day, and then struggled with severe back pain for the next several months while he got treatment.  He moaned and complained a lot!  It was during those painful few months that his perspective changed.  He gained an understanding of his patients' pain.  After this experience, he never complained about or judged his patients again.  In fact, the whole experience changed the type of doctor he is.  He now has empathy and understanding.  I admire him for changing.  Often times in life, we are allowed to have experiences just like this, but our behavior remains the same.

Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone

Saturday nights are date nights with my hubby.  Friday nights are nights out with my girls.  My friend Susan and I went to dinner and then to a movie at the dollar theatre last night.  As I approached the ticket booth, I noticed a single, older lady behind me waiting in line.  When the ticket taker asked me how many tickets I wanted, I asked the lady behind me how many tickets she needed?  She responded with "Just one."  I asked her if I could buy her ticket?  She asked me what movie we were seeing, and I told her.  She asked me if it was a scary movie, and I said no.  Then she looked at me with a surprised look and asked me "Why? Why would you do that?"  I shrugged my shoulders and told her that I just wanted to.  So I bought her the ticket and handed it to her.  She looked at the ticket and when she realized that the movie didn't start for another 45 minutes, she asked if she could exchange it for another ticket. I told her that was just fine with me.  

Parenting

When you are a parent, you have so much hope for your children.  You hope they listen to your counsel.  You hope they get a good education.  You hope they do better than you did.  You hope they are happy and have love. There is so much you don't know about parenthood before you become a parent.  That is probably why we sign up for it!  We have no idea what is coming...the joy, the pain, the exhaustion. Certainly, as women, we forget the pain of pregnancy, labor, and childbirth, or we would never have a second child.  I guess it is good we forget, so that we can become a parent again.

Political Dilemma

How could a country full of so many bright, educated citizens only be able to produce two presidential candidates?  I cannot in good conscience vote for either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton.

If I vote for Hillary Clinton, I'd have to vote for bigger government, which I am against.  I also don't trust Hillary.  I don't like her foreign policy.  I don't like her tax philosophy or healthcare system.  She talks about women's rights, but then accepts huge donations from countries who oppress women.  If I HAD to pick one thing I like about Hillary, it is that she is a woman.  But that is not a good enough reason to vote for someone.  If I vote for a presidential candidate because she is a woman, she had better be a qualified woman, not just a woman.  It's like all the people who voted for Barack Obama because he is Black.  I would never vote for someone based on ethnicity or gender, only their qualifications.  I have to admit when Obama first entered the race, I was really excited about the prospect of electing a Black president.  Think of what it signified?  When just 150 years ago blacks were slaves, and now look how far they've come?  But Obama wasted his opportunity.

Then there is Donald Trump.  I do like the fact that he is not a career politician, that he has a business background and negotiating skills, and that he wants to make "American great again."  But, I have real concerns with the Donald.  I don't really care that he doesn't have experience in politics, because I think his business experience is what is needed to be a great leader.  But, his personality is not worthy of the office.  I don't like his bullying attitude.  I don't like how he talks down and demeans others.  I am worried he would treat other world leaders carelessly and put us at risk. 

I don't know what to do!  I just heard about McMullin who is a conservative running as an independent for President.  I haven't researched him too far yet.  But even if I do and I like what I see, the result will not help elect McMullin, it will likely help elect Clinton.  Never Clinton.  See the dilemma?