Fairness & Consideration

these two behaviors have seemingly been removed from our society. at the current moment, both my spouse and i are sick because someone chose to come to a gathering in which we attended and this person was sick.

my spouse has no sick leave (because he works for a corporate-type greedy little twit). being 50% of our income goes to grossly inflated housing, missing just one day puts a damper into our already tight budget. but hey, if we were paid a fair and livable wage, that wouldn't be so much of a problem. but put together the reality that we're underpaid with the ever-growing high cost of living and you have a recipe for anything but fair.

the opinions of the "blame the victim" chanting that our society oh so likes to spread goes through my mind as do the "oh now shush and focus on what you are grateful for" chants.

the truth is, i have had it with being victimized by people who are inconsiderate. i have had it with being victimized by a system that is focused on anything but fairness. i have had it with being usurped so that the rich can continue on with their gluttunous, lavish lifestyles. and anyone who does not see this reality, especially at this point in time, is not living it or is choosing to remain blind.

my spouse's employer is currently on vacation. 30 day vacation. why is he able to afford this? because of his employees.....you know.... the ones who actually DO the majority of the work, the ones who receive no vacation days. i'm not saying he isn't deserving of this vacation. what i am saying is that his employees are deserving of the same or similar reprieve. when i first found out the length of time he would be gone and the dates he would be gone, i was even more distressed. this is the beginning of their busy season--and i mean busy. when my spouse wished to take vacation last month, he was told he had to do so prior to the end of the month. had to. and here the owner feels he can break his own rule??

i read this powerful statement--a statement that resonates strongly with my values. called the universal declaration of human rights, it basically states that everyone has the right to housing, food, clothing, medical care, necessary social services and security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, old age, widowhood or other lack of livelihood circumstances. and everyone is deserving of these rights and freedoms without distinction of any kind.

i read this and gasped. I LOVE THIS

i then asked myself: why isn't this taught in schools and in families and preached in boardrooms and lived out in government policies?

of course i know the answers. rugged individualism is our way of life. resources are not distributed in an equitable fashion. and given our current system, this isn't feasible.

i cannot begin to express how i long for something different and new. i used to subscribe to the rugged individualism concept. i used to believe i could do anything on my own. i used to believe that if i fell down, it was up to me to pull myself up. me and no one else.

when i realized that wasn't working so well for me, i got into buddism. new age thought. i then began to realize these methods, while stating how we are all connected, were really no different than the rugged individualism concept. the words were just gentler. actually, i came to believe some of this talk sounded like someone speaking out of both sides of their mouth. "we are all connected." and then: "no one can affect you or your life unless you allow them to." huh??

life is balance and i believe we can pull together some of the basics of both ways of thinking/believing. while it is important to know how to motivate oneself, it is equally important to allow oneself to rely on others when self-reliance is simply not an option (due to whatever circumstances). while it is important to know the power of our thoughts and what we think about ourselves and the world around us, it is also important to remember the thoughts and decisions of others affect us as well. i heard this summed up so brilliantly by a medical doctor who said: "thought is energy. that means our thoughts create. but we also have to realize there is a lot of interference from the thoughts of others."

in other words, it is a mess out there. i wouldn't want to be the universal force that attempts to keep it all straight!

i ask myself the following question: how powerful are my thoughts when what it is i desire and declare for myself is contrary to the way things are? for example, how can i create affordable housing for myself, how can i find that home on a piece of land for under $100,000 when the reality is, land alone goes for $100k and up?

if it is indeed true that the universe doesn't judge these thoughts of ours, then i certainly cannot rely on the universe to change the hearts of those in charge, those whose focus is on greed and power, those who make the policies and the rules that directly effect us. if i cannot rely on the universe for this, who or what can i? i can always hope for these folks to remember who they are and say "hey, you know what? there are a lot of people needlessly suffering. we can do something about that by making a few changes." that's about all i can do.

until such time, what do i do in the interim? i am tired and worn out from trying to focus on the positive when i have this huge barrel of negative that i must deal with daily: lack of family support or concern......lack of livable wages.........expensive housing.......lack of affordable health insurance........and then there is the entire political storms brewing that, irregardless of how much i attempt to disconnect myself from this energy, i still feel it.

and why is that???

because we are all connected, that's why. and until we "get that"--until we truly get that--open to those moments when we know this and feel this and experience this--we will continue to isolate and insulate our hearts from those who we think are beneath us or less than. less deserving. or simply turn our hearts away because it is safer to keep our heads in the clouds or in the sand.

feeling that connection is an awesome experience. i highly recommend it. i have those moments now and then. while it doesn't remove the anger or the pain i feel over the lack of fairness and consideration i and so many others unnecessarily experience, while it doesn't change my thoughts i hold dearly about what i believe to be the rights for all, it does soften me and open me up to seeing these people as people just like myself at some level.