I can see clearly now, the rain is gone......

So, anyone who reads this blog (all two of you) know that I have been in a pretty big funk lately, but today, I had a moment of clarity, alas I am not giving up dirty martini's just yet, but I will borrow from the Alcoholic's Anonymous mantra when I say I am embracing the following sentiment
"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change and the courage to change the things I can."

The second mantra I am embracing is this one.....LIFE IS TOO SHORT.

During the past several months I have seen and heard of many of my friends and family dealing with potentially life threatening illnesses, psyche altering personal tragedies, and just plain yucky crap. Yet, through it all, people seem to prevail. So, as I think about my own current personal challenges (and I have a list it seems) I have to ask myself, what does it really add up to? Inconveniences? yup. Annoyances? ubetcha! Irritations? hell yes! But nothing that I can't deal with by understanding that I have to "control what I can control" and allow others to do the same.

I was on the phone with my best friend Carrie today, which always puts me in a good mood. And we were chatting about this woman at Smith College who was giving a talk about the fact the Darth Vader and the Disney Princesses are ruining the minds of our children. Apparently this lovely woman, who is a PHD seems to believe these "minions of doom" are contributing to "compassion deficit disorder" (that's right, it's now got a label) and "premature adolescent rebellion." Now, I think Ariel (the Little Mermaid's) boobs are a little much for a disney film, but I can't subscribe to the notion that she's driving our children to a life of aggression or anti-social behavior. C'mon, it's the little mermaid for crying out loud. And Darth Vader, man that's James Earl Jones for the love of Pete. How could he possibly be poisoning the mind of my 9 year old.

So what's the second part got to do with the first part? I feel a segue coming on, follow along.....
Someone needs to give the honorable doctor Diane Levin PHD, a copy of the AA creed. Focus on what you can control Levin. Your own kids and don't worry about the rest of the kids, we'll take care of our own thanks. Needless to say Carrie and I won't be signing up for the talk, but we would LOVE to see the folks who actually do show up for this one. Carrie indicated it's probably the same woman from Kindergarten registration who was breastfeeding her 5 year old and raised her hand to say, "Wait, wait wait, you mean they have to be potty trained before they can start kindergarten." (You can't make this stuff up folks.)

OK, I have gone way off track here. My train of thought has clearly derailed. That being said, from now on, I am going to focus on controlling what I can control and leave the rest to others. I think I can save myself from a lot of frustration and heartache along the way.

Peace out
J