Life, Love & Inspiration: November 2014

Thursday, November 20, 2014

C'est La Vie, So I Do Me

By Delina Cummings

I try not to worry unnecessarily for it takes away the pleasure of living.

I used to try to do good for the world but now my focus is doing good for me. I still help people, not out of obligation but, out of charity.

I used to pursue those who did me wrong to try and make their wrong right. Or I would take the fall and say, "It's my fault," for the sake of peace. These types of destructive behaviors no longer appeal to me.

Never did I once think there was a retributive bone in me, only to somehow discover it. It makes me powerful, and I'm not afraid to exercise it.

If I let some things slide, it's not because I'm timid or feeble or afraid or powerless; it's because I realize it takes far more energy to fight fights which add nothing to my existence.

People tend to think too many I's and Me's in your speech is a wanton display of arrogance. To know I and Me is a sign of maturity, of knowing yourself, and not being afraid to tell the world who you are and what you stand for. Knowing yourself deters others from taking you for granted.

My patience may run thin easily when dealing with difficult people, not because of haste or quick temper, but because I no longer alot time to unproductive interactions.

Gone are the days when I cried bucket full of tears when someone hurt me. Now I close the windows, bring the curtains down, shut the doors, turn off the lights and say, "c'est la vie." In wisdom and maturity, and with reduced tolerance for ignorance, it has become so easy to let negativity go.

Fake and selfish friends irk me, and those who believe they have the right to know all the private details of your life in order to feel like a friend. Of these, I rather have none, although they keep buzzing around for no apparent reason.

People's opinions, I leave with them there. I've learnt that, in the end, what matters is doing doing what I want, what I believe is best for me and those in my care. External opinions create distortion of which the consequences I have to face on my own. No one else will feel my pain or shame, no one else can cry my tears. So why bother listening to what someone else has to say?

I also value life far more than I used to as a youth. I feel for the unborn who had not the chance to live, and those condemned to death. There is nothing humane in taking lives, yet we call ourselves "human".

I'm accountable only to God. Otherwise, I live as I please, and death may have no sting. C'est la vie.