Brian’s Reflection: Monday, January 3, 2011

I love mankind; it's people I can't stand.

Charles M. Schulz, creator of “Peanuts”;
on this date, 2000, the last new “Peanuts”
comic strip ran in 2600 newspapers.



Well: the challenge here is pretty obvious, isn’t it? “People” in the abstract are manageable. People in the particular are damned annoying!! I’m even annoying to myself!

I get up a couple of times in the night to pee, because of the affects of radiation for prostate cancer ….. and I forget to keep my eyes closed and then I can’t go back to sleep and am awake for 2-3 hours in the night. I tell myself to stop and think before I leave the house ….. do I have the things I need; then, I don’t, and I don’t! I write things about what I think are important in being a healthy person ….. but I don’t listen to myself. I know that listening to the “news” is toxic to my emotional, spiritual, psychic, and even physical health ….. but I find myself turning it on, which only stokes my rage. I know perfectly well that more than 3 ounces of protein is enough, and NONE of Dennis’s fabulous peanut-butter-and-choco cookies during the week is better for my total well-being ….. but I sneak them anyway. I know that following Don Miguel Ruiz’s “Four Agreements” would really balance my Life ….. but my mind is becoming more like the proverbial sieve every day; I can barely remember what the Four Agreements are!

Sigh.

However. As I think about it, if the “God” of the Bible had paid too much attention to the individuals of the ancient Israelite community, without having an “overview” of the Whole, He (and I use “He” advisedly here) they would have indeed have been annihilated very early on in one of His undoubtedly frequent fits of exasperation.

I think it’s OK to be daily pissed off with “people” ….. as long as one has an equal balance of appreciation for the Species.

Individuals are intrinsically annoying. But as a whole, Humankind can be pretty fascinating and even ….. charming.

Brian+