choosing to care

Hey all,
How is it going?
Pretty good here...I have still been going to my defense classes...I have been working out.

I have been thinking.
It is easier not to care.
It is easier to come to a place in life where you simply let go of hoping..
hoping things will get better..
Hoping that what you say or do will make a difference.
I did that...and having done that...I can say it was much easier.
Caring is harder...emotionally and physically.

It's very in vogue to be 'tolerant' of people's choices.
especially when people's choices don't involve you or anyone you love.
"Well", you think "That's their choice."
"They made their bed, I guess they will have to lie in it."
But some people's choices are shaping an entire generation of apathetic and uneducated people.

I was on facebook earlier..
And someone said divergent life choices were like saying 'Potato potahto"
You know...
One person chooses to become a hooker and die of a heroin overdose...that's potato..
another chooses to become a doctor and  heal the sick...that's potahto.

We are all just 'struggling' to be human..so we can't judge the relative value of either contribution.


And to whit...since this is my blog...I say BULLSHIT

I nearly unfriended that person.

well..not that person..but a friend who liked the insanely stupid comment.
It isn't the same.
The reason our society is in the neck deep level of shit it is in
Is BECAUSE of this mentality EXACTLY.
The idea that there are not poor choices or good choices...just choices.
The idea that your choices only affect you, that you only owe things to you..and not your family or friends...the idea that the choices you make aren't a ripple affecting the lives of others.

It's BULLSHIT.

What you choose to do in life...daily.
Everything from getting up in the morning on time, to making your kids' breakfast...to being responsible in paying your bills OR being kind to that person you meet who is having a bad day.
IT ALL MATTERS.
It does.
What you do MATTERS.
When you sluff off, give into your bad temper...hurt people by being unfaithful or rude or late or inconsiderate.
It's a ripple. 
Does that mean you have to be perfect? No.
But it does matter!
As each day progresses since I have felt whole and capable of moving forward...this phrase has settled into my head "You sculpt your life with your own hands'.

You create it, for good or ill and when YOUR time is UP it is UP.
LOOK AT YOUR LIFE.
What does it say?
What do you want it to say..
NO.
What do you want it to SCREAM.
What will it mean when you are gone.
Will it be about you...or about the people you loved and loved you.
The people you helped.
What you contributed..what you taught..what you passed on?!
So  the phrase that you could use when looking at two divergent paths isn't potato potahto...

It's MORE LIKE:
example vs. warning..
legendary vs. infamous.
Saint vs. tyrant.
fulfilled vs. wasted

What  you leave behind you can be a trail of enlightenment...or a path of excrement.
I intend to make the most of mine.
BECAUSE I HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY...
and
BECAUSE IT MATTERS.
chris out.