Keeping Up With the Joneses by Rachel Sanfordlyn Shreckengast
They say. They have. They think. They own. They will be upset if we don't. They expect us to. Those people have. Those people say. Those people own. Those people will be upset if we don't. Those people expect us to. And, what about them? They might think oddly of us. Those people might not like us if we don't have the same things.
It's called "Keeping up with the Joneses" and everyone is guilty of having thoughts such as the above in their heads at some point or another. We wonder what other people will think of us and how they will view us. I only have one question. Who are "THEY" and why do we care about "THEM" and what "THOSE PEOPLE" think of us? Are there actually people that exist who EXPECT us to have all of the things they have and do all of the things they do?
I suspect that the people we care so much about pleasing are in the same boat we are in. They are worried about looking a certain way to YOU and worried about having the same pleasures/possesions in life that YOU have. Think about it for a moment. If we're all trying to please each other, then we don't lose something in the process? We lose US, we lose OURSELVES. Not the selves that everyone else wants us to be, but the selves we want to be.
We are too busy worrying about them and what they think to take time to worry about what truly makes us happy. We do what is expected of us, whether it is to be good consumers, to drive a mini-van when we don't really need one or to enter our children into every extra-curricular activity known to mankind and then, complain about our lack of time to do things for ourselves. We rarely take time to do the things that make us truly happy and content. You know, those simple things in life that take only a moment from our busy lives to appreciate; like stopping to smell the roses (free!), taking a walk (free!), taking a long and luxurious bubble bath (cheap!), watching your children peacefully sleep (free!) or taking a moment to gaze at the stars (free!). After all, the neighbors might stare. Or perhaps, they might talk. Or....well, we don't know what they'd do, but we know it wouldn't be good and that they certainly wouldn't approve of such ODD behaviour!
Of course, our neighbors (and any other form of THEY you can think of) are in the same predicament we are. They too, are afraid to do anything interesting to them or soothing to their own souls, because...well, YOU might talk, you might not approve and you might stare. Is there a solution to such a predicament?
Actually, there is a solution. The first step is to start doing things that make your heart soar with joy. The second step is to stop caring so much about what everyone else might think. As long as you are not hurting anyone, you have the freedom to do what makes you happy. So do it! The third step is to embrace your quackiness, your inner silliness, your quirks, your oddities and your inner weirdness. You have to learn to love yourself for who you are and fully embrace all of your own unique human strangeness. The fourth and final step is to realize that you can not please everyone all of the time. You can be the best person you know how to be, but that does not mean you have to give up the person you are in the process.
Besides, wouldn't it be more interesting to be known as the free-spirit, the one who is true to themselves, the one who marches to the beat of a different drummer? It sure sounds a lot less boring to me than being known as the follower, the one who does the same thing as everyone else and the one who fades into the woodwork.
Best Wishes,
Rachel Sanfordlyn Shreckengast
040303
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