It can be so difficult for me to not take things personally and refrain from emotionally engaging when someone – anyone, comes at me with anger, sarcasm, rudeness or the like.

Why? I believe most of it comes from the ego telling us: You are the most important thing in the universe.

One very important element to remember is this: Most of the time, it ain’t about you/me/us. It’s about whoever is casting the negativity towards us. But oh, easier said than done, not to strike back with our own fear, anger, resentment and more.

Instead, I’m striving to be in a place of Love and grace. Rising above the muck and blessing them “for they know not what they do.” To drop the ego and to not engage in their negative emotional mire their choosing to wallow in. But instead chose to Love.

Everyone is broken in some way and we are all looking to be seen, heard and understood.

Maybe we can listen instead.

My heart aches as a father, a parent, an acquaintance, a stranger and even a fellow human being for those parents who have lost a child – a young adult – a teenager, in a car accident. They seem to happen way too often nowadays.

This most recent one hit close to home for me this last weekend as the kids involved go to my son’s high school. There were three who passed away due to at least one poor decision from the driver of the vehicle who ran a red light at excessive speed. In addition, only one of the passengers had their seatbelt on. That young adult survived. To my knowledge none of the students had been drinking.

[Deep sigh] What a senseless way to lose our youth, when it could have been so easily prevented. Let’s all help the young one’s in our lives to understand the consequences of their actions in this world. Let’s do our best to guide them and inspire them to rise to the occasion.

If not us, then who?

There have been many times in my life where I didn’t know how much I appreciated situations, circumstances and even people until they were no longer there.

Why must we take – sometimes what we value most in life – these things for granted? Because it’s “normal?” It’s routine? Our minds are no longer blown?

What if we were to wake up and find things different? You were no longer able to use your legs, you had no job or any source of income or even worse, your loved ones were gone.

Maybe we can see how incredibly precious these things in our lives are and recognize them. Appreciate them. And if possible when it comes to people, let them know how much you value their existence in your life.

Couldn’t hurt, right?

I value consistency in myself and in others. In addition to stability. Those who can be relied upon when they’re asked to show up is important to me.

Probably more than I realize. These are the people I tend to get closer to. The opposite is true of those who fall short of this quality and I tend to withdraw from those who are unable to remain steady for the long haul.

What does that say about me? Not sure.

I won’t blow your mind with my charisma in the first 5 minutes of meeting you, but give me 5 years and I will be there if a solid foundation has been established in the relationship.

Isn’t that what we all want?

Why do we feel it necessary to remanufacture every moment in our lives into an almost unrealistic ‘perfect’ situation for ourselves, rather than accepting the moment for what it is? And then resting in that.

I’m doing this constantly. Incessantly. Obsessively. And it drives me mad. Not to mention the anxiety that’s brought on trying to stay one step ahead of . . . . . everything.

Instead of orchestrating our lives, maybe we can work on accepting the moment and Being.

Certainly, we have the ability to change what’s in our circle of influence on a daily basis, but lets not get carried away.

It’s stated very clearly in the Serenity Prayer: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.

Or as George Costanza would say, “Serenity Now!”