Just another random rant.....

I realized that as we get older, our level of patience runs really thin.  What was never an issue becomes the biggest issue to deal with.  I have prided myself on being a reasonable person, in fact, a very patient person, too.  I try to see the other's point of view and I accept that everyone is different.  Not just in appearance, but in their thought process.  I take advice to heart even if the advice is easier said than done.  I consider myself pretty smart and resourceful.  If a problem arises, I try every possible idea and suggestion to see if I get a result.

Here are just a few "hurdles" I have been trying to overcome.....

Well, this first one is probably the hardest one I have and even the hardest one to write about.  Please keep in mind, I love my mother.  She is one tough woman.  She speaks her mind and does not care what others think.  In fact, she is one that can bring out the best and worst in me.  She is highly opinionated and will give you her opinion if you want it or not.  She is also an understanding and kind person, even thoughtful, but there are times that she can really test my patience level.

Every morning, my mom calls me.  8:00am on the dot, unless she has a doctor's appointment at that time, then she makes sure to call me the day before to let me know and then calls me when she gets home.  There a lot of phone calls I get from her in the day, but I understand that getting lonely is hard to deal with.  You see, my dad passed away a little over 9 years ago.  He was her soul mate, her best friend, her everything.  All of her children are grown and on their own.  My older brother still lives with her in the family home to make sure that she is well taken care of, but does have a job to go to and a social life to uphold so he cannot be there all the time.  I do my best to spend time with her, I take her to the store sometimes and I even have taken her to doctor's appointments (if she asks).  We sometimes go out for lunch just to get out of our houses.  I know that if I ever needed help, she would be the first one there for me, as I am for her.

It is just that there are times that since she is so opinionated, she can be relentless.  Sometimes I think she takes pride in pushing my buttons.  She can be so narrow sighted that there is no way to get her to see another's point of view.  She lives in a black and white kind-of world, there are no gray areas.  When it comes to me or my daughter, she expects us to have high expectations; only the best will do.  That would be fine and dandy, but life will have it's disappointments and shortcomings.  We learn to adapt.  That is not acceptable in her book.  She will tell me what to do.  Interesting thing, when she makes her suggestions, she seems to not notice that I am smart enough to have already tried that.  When she does this, it makes me feel as if she thinks I am clueless.  I know I am not, but as I said earlier, she can really push my buttons.

As sensitive as a person that I am (just a recent revelation), I am a sponge to my environment.  I react similar to my surroundings.  If a friend is mad, I am mad with them.  If they are sad, I am sad too.  Frustrated is so commonplace these days that being frustrated really takes no effort.  What makes it hard for a sensitive person like myself these days is that people are getting better at masking their woes as I am unable to mask my own.  That is just a recipe for people to run in the other direction.  I can't blame them.  There are days I want to run away myself.  Since running away from myself is not an option, I use blogging as my way of release.  I think really hard about what I want to say, to be as clear as possible and let the chips fall were they may.

Maybe I should introduce my mom to blogging.  She has loads to say.  Well, maybe not.  She tells me that she likes to keep her thoughts to herself......