Plateaus and Protests

It’s been a while since I posted anything. To be honest, I’m stuck at a plateau.  A writing plateau, a weight-loss plateau, a career plateau – I think any subject that could be brought up, I’d be at a plateau.  And what does one do when one reaches a plateau? Take a look back, take a look around, evaluate the landscape, review the options, check the map, etc.  And when I did all of that, I realized something that is very discouraging:  there is a lot of misery out there, a lot of unhappiness, stress, struggle. And I have to admit, I can’t seem to escape it myself.

What is going on in the world?  Am I the only one who feels this way, which leads to the question of “is there something wrong with me?” And in the process of looking back and around, I keep coming back to the answer of “no, there isn’t anything wrong with me.”  But something is definitely wrong.  

And as I’ve posted before, I know quite a few people who are struggling with some real situations; some deeply stressing, what-am-I-going-to-do-next situations, and I feel for them all. And I can’t help it. But misery and stress is not additive, it is multiplicative. And collectively, we are all suffering and struggling.

So, I want to begin a protest. I want to protest misery.


I don’t want to try to think of a catchy title of my protest, nor do I want to get into any symbolic actions or catch phrases. I just want to protest misery. We need to put an end to misery, before misery defeats us all.  We each have a part in this war to win our own battles against our demons and our situations, because in the end, as much as misery loves company, we are all responsible for ourselves. WE decide how to react. WE decide what face we put out there. WE decide whether we lay around down, or pick ourselves up. Will we be completely successful? No. Hence the plateaus. But when we’re lost, stuck, or scared, the WORST thing we can do is stand still and do nothing. 

We can no longer fall victim to our misery.  We all have situations that suck and trying to compare who’s is better than their’s and which is worse than what just makes things worse. And I’ll stand up now and say that I am guilty as charged. I’ve been wallowing – it’s easy. I’ve wanted something to change on its own, or someone to take it all away, and in the end that just doesn’t happen without an initiating action on my part. Every actions creates an equal and opposite reaction, huh? So if misery is acted towards me, I should be combating that with an equally positive reaction?  

But we all have to do our part. If we’re going to try to beat misery, we can let one person be the flag bearer of Being Positive.  If we do that, that person becomes isolated in their lonely positivity and eventually gets brought back to this miserable earth. We all need to prop each other up when needed, not pull each other down or hold each other back. And in trying to be positive, I’ll say that none of us intentionally hold others back. But it happens, it’s natural, and it needs to be fought. We all have it in ourselves to succeed. Our very lives depend on it. We can’t let misery rule the day, and take our years away from us, no matter how much is out there. 

 

I wish I could do it alone. I WANT to do it alone…I WANT to be able to raise us all up – those who know me KNOW that I struggle with this all the time. I want to fix everyone and everything. But I can’t. No one can fix you but you. No one can fix me but me. But we all CAN do it. We need to. If there is one protest we all need to fight for; if there is one battle we need to march to, if there is one war that needs to be won – we need to fight for ourselves.