Stop. Just Stop.

I really appreciate all the positive feedback I received from last weeks post. It's not an easy thing to talk about weight issues but the support does mean a lot!
The holidays are over. The tree is down and the Christmas lights are down. Priya cried both times that happened, but it was time. Now it's the dark days of January. Happiness will be found again in March and the sun will return.
My girls are way into Just Dance on the Switch. I love that they want to do it. I love to dance and it's fun to see them get into it so much. Here's the problem. We always do "Let it Go" first. I now listen to that song at least once a day. Even worse I'm really good at dancing to it. I got a Mega-Star rating on it the other day. I rock it as Elsa. That's even more depressing than January. That's saying something. It is fun to watch those weirdos dance though. There are a lot of Disney songs so we have a rule that we each take turn picking a song. That way we do two Disney songs and then a regular song. I'm trying to broaden their music knowledge.
Priya got really used to me being home so much over the holidays and is having a tough time going back to normal. As a result she's become super clingy whenever I need to go anywhere. I don't blame her. I'm pretty awesome to be around. Hopefully it's only for a short time.
The other day she was cuddling with me and as a joke she bit my stomach. We've talked about biting. A lot. So I got mad at her and told her she couldn't bite people. That sent her into uncontrollable sobbing on my stomach. I calmed her down and explained that I loved her but she couldn't bite. Once she calmed down she blew her nose on my shirt. This made me get mad again because don't blow your nose on my shirt, which made her cry again. So I calmed her down again while explaining that she can't blow her nose on my shirt. In a nutshell that's what it's like to be a parent. You get bitten and snot blown on you and you love them anyway and comfort them.
I saw something at Chuck-a-Rama that has bothered me all week. The family in front of us were trying to pay for their lunch. The dad was a veteran so he wanted the military discount, but he didn't have the correct ID with him. The girl behind the counter was young and was just doing her job. She said she needed the correct ID or she couldn't give them the discount. They freaked out and asked for the manager. The manager came over and the woman that was speaking for the family said they come here all the time and how dare they question them and they were very offended. I was proud of the manager for speaking up to them and telling them she did recognize them and would give them the discount but they needed to bring the correct ID.
This is what bugs me. We've become such d-bags. Seriously. We're offended by everything and everyone. It's is absolutely ridiculous. The thing is we've all been a d-bag at some point in our lives. We might not have realized it but we have been. I know I have been. It's not something we usually set out to be, but we've all done it. I don't care what your beliefs are or what you've done in your life you have been a d-bag to someone.
Maybe your the one in the left lane driving 67 miles per hour and telling everyone they don't need to drive any faster than that. If so, you were a d-bag. It's not your job to police that left lane. On the other side maybe your the one in the right lane tailgating someone that is going slowly. If so, you were a d-bag. That person was in the correct lane for their speed and you need to go around them.
Maybe you are the d-bag that won't move into the intersection to turn left but stays behind the white line so nobody else can go. Or maybe you're the d-bag who turns left long after you have a red light. Maybe you're the d-bag who needs to get something out of a backpack or stroller or answer a text message so you stop in the middle of a walkway to do that and make it difficult for everyone else trying to get by.
Maybe you're the d-bag that is driving slowly or erratically because you're looking at your d-bag phone. If that's the case, you're the worst d-bag of all.
Here's my point: we've all been d-bags at some point in our lives. The idea is to get out of our own heads and our own worlds and be self-aware. Think about how we're effecting the lives of those around us and adjust. It doesn't mean we need to be constantly stressed about our actions, but just be self-aware. Know what's going on around you. Stop getting offended at ridiculous things. One of my favorite quotes is, "A fool takes offense when none is intended, but a bigger fool takes offense when offense is intended." I really do believe that. Stop getting offended. Stop believing you are the only one who matters. Stop the entitlement. I get that this family wanted the veteran discount. They deserve the veteran discount. I'm grateful to that man for serving our country. However the poor girl behind the counter was just doing her job because they didn't bring the correct ID. That's the entitlement factor that we have embraced in our culture. None of us is more important than anyone else. When we realize that life becomes a lot more about being self-aware and everyone getting along better.
The good news is even if we've been a d-bag, we can adjust. We can find ways to be more self-aware and get out of our own worlds. We can choose to not be offended. We can choose to stop being self-entitled. Each of us have to decide to start doing that. If we've been a d-bag about something, own up to it and make decisions to be better. None of us is perfect. As a culture we've become so self-obsessed that we can't see how entitled we've become.
Alright, I needed to get that off my chest and I'm good now. As always thanks for reading! We've got a couple of new podcast episodes coming out soon: Sweeto Burrito and Proper Burger.