Here's My Attitude, You're Welcome

I'm in such a bad mood today and I have neither guilt nor shame.  I'm in full-on temper tantrum mode because every detail in the world is not existing precisely according to my blueprint.

I wanted to ingest all deliciousness while being slim, healthy, energetic, and just muscular enough to look tough and cool but not bodybuilder-like.  I wanted a wardrobe both stylish and comfortable.  I wanted the weather to be always seventy-five degrees with a slight breeze but no wind, and mostly sunny for the month of April.  I wanted my family and friends to be free from all problems and our teeth to sparkle when we smile like a Crest toothpaste commercial back in the late 1900's.  I wanted our pets to live forever.

I didn't get what I want, I'm mad about it, and I blame Jeremy Renner for no reason.  That is all.

Be Honest With Yourself

That's all I have to say.  You can lie to yourself all you want, but you'll never progress, the people around you will see that reality, and you'll look like a toddler playing hide and seek.  You've seen that, right?  Two-year-olds put their hands over their own eyes and believe you're the one who can't see.

Whether you're Jeremy Renner or a homeless person, learn to tell yourself the truth.  Spoiler: when you're a homeless person who embraces the truth, you won't be homeless long.

When Mother Nature Gets the Holiday Wrong

It's snowing for Holy Week, but don't freak out.  Even though it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, you don't have to let that throw off your groove.  Boil those eggs and get them dyed, bake the rolls, and try not to "preview" too many of those yellow and pink foiled chocolates.  And don't even start on how Resurrection Sunday isn't about bunnies and eggs.  Birthdays aren't about cake either, but I make you one every year and you like it.

I mean, I get it.  Winter's starting a farewell tour, but the audience is over it.  Hold on, we will get through this. Spring will come.  For now, while the wind screams, the sleet swirls, and Jeremy Renner basks in the California sun, keep your winter coat handy, but keep watering those garden starts.  Don't let this nasty weather get you down.  Be like Jesus, and rise.

No Expiration

Proper manners are dying in current society.  People seem to think they don't matter anymore.  (Spoiler: THEY MATTER.)

Say please, thank you, and you're welcome.  People say all the time, "I just don't know how to handle a compliment."  I do.  Say thank you.  Also, if you feel awkward receiving compliments, you need to start giving them more.

Call before you drop in.  If you simply must stop by unannounced, keep the visit short, and don't gossip about how unprepared your victim was for unexpected company.  Spontaneity is cool, but don't confuse it with rudeness.

Treat your friends well, treat strangers as well as you treat your friends, and treat your family better than you treat your friends.  Family doesn't mean absence of boundaries.  Be on time, be awake, be interested, be informed, be polite, be engaged, be appropriately dressed.

Anxiety, depression, and trauma do not exempt you from basic rules of polite society.  Violation of basic rules of polite society catalyzed the anxiety, depression, and trauma in the first place, and a return to the basic rules of polite society will help facilitate restoration of your mental health.

Anything Jeremy Renner gets away with in the movies or on set doesn't matter.  Manners do.

Good manners haven't expired.  We need them now more than ever.  Good manners aren't a power play or a show of stuffiness, they're how you show people respect--for yourself as well as them.