Just When I Think I'm Doing it All 'Right'

Having received positive feedback on my last blog, which was somewhat self-sacrificing to say the least, I decided to continue my 'quest-for-perfection' endeavor in this follow-up post.

If anyone takes the time to read many online blogs, they will see that there are often questions asked of readers at the end. These questions are intended to be thought-provoking, inspiring, and to hopefully encourage a discussion between reader and writer that will begin a long-lasting relationship. However, in the vein of shaking things up a little, in doing things differently and not always taking the same path as I stated last week, I decided to pose my inquisitions to readers right from the start.

Do you often feel that you are living your life the 'right' way, or do you never feel that way at all? Do you have regrets, not about the past, but about the here and now? Have you ever felt that everything is just as it should be, and then just one moment later discovered how wrong you were and saw everything in your life fall to pieces?

Well, I am sacrificially here to say that you are, by no means, alone. I freely admit that there have been a number of times throughout my life where I've stopped and taken a good look around, and with arms across my chest and a decisive firm nod, wholeheartedly believed that I was doing everything right. That powerful if rather conceited feeling may have lasted a week, or a day, or perhaps only a few minutes, before something happened. Something that was able to shake me up the most, just when I thought I had it all right. The proverbial rug was yanked out from under my size seven feet, and my world came crumbling down.

Undoubtedly, it was the result of some event or comment from the world around me that precipitated such a deflating change. Something that reached out and 'smacked me 'upside of the head', as my grandmother used to say, reminding me how very wrong I was. You see, in this era that we live in, where Social Media can be both a blessing a curse, we are bombarded on all sides by pressures and commitments to be the perfect parent, spouse, child, or friend. All we need to do is peek on Facebook to see how wonderful and grand everyone else's lives are, and how very perfect they seem to be. We are privy to the amazing vacations they take, to the awards their children earn, to the new updo's at the salon, and the milestones that mark their family's sweet and precious moments. Sometimes, we may even turn away from those posts with feelings of inadequacy, ineptness, feeling alone and worthless, and wondering in our own naivety how everyone else seems to have it all and be doing everything 'just right'.

What I hope this blog will do is to serve as a reminder for us all, that people are not posting the 'other' moments in their lives that would show us all wrong those feelings truly are. Remember that the scenarios and circumstances that would show us that we are all human, sinners at times, and certainly not perfect, are omitted from social sharing. From the hurtful arguments that occur between spouses and end badly, to the disastrous family connections that drive loved ones apart, to the losses at sports games or spelling bees, or those individual family moments that would, if posted, prove how alike in our inherent fallacies we truly are.

None of us has it all figured out. None of us knows what really happens after we leave this crazy Earth. And, as much as we may sometimes feel that we are the only ones who are doing everything wrong, try to remember that you are no less (and no more) than anyone else, no matter how good their lives may appear. Ultimately, keep in mind that no one on this planet is doing it right, all of the time.