Almost there

I have 7 days left on this challenge.  And boy howdy am I glad to be almost done.


While I have learned a lot about my own writing style (I like lists, parentheticals and dashes, and I dislike asymmetrical lists, transitions and embedding other forms of media), I have also learned that one 30 day challenge is enough for a lifetime.  Nobody needs to write about his or her life and thoughts this often.  So it was a good exercise, but not one to be repeated.


In other news, my dad gave me this book for Christmas that's a book of daily inspirations.  I have really, really been enjoying it.  And if you know me at all, you know how unlikely that is - I'm pretty quick to find something like that cheesy and unappealing.  But there was this one passage that really caught my eye, and has been sticking with me for the past few days.  It reads as follows:


"Wouldn't it be nice if love were like a cafeteria line?  What if you could look at the person with whom you live and select what you want and pass on what you don't?  What if parents could do this with kids? "I'll take a plate of good grades and cute smiles, and I'm passing on the teenage identity crisis and tuition bills."[...]It would be easier.  It would be neater.  It would be painless and peaceful.  But...it wouldn't be love.  Love doesn't accept just a few things.  Love is willing to accept all things."


I'm sure everyone struggles with this to a certain degree, but I think I might have an issue just a little bit more than most.


I'm a problem solver.  My parents used to listen to Dr. Laura (before she went all crazy political) and I remember she said once that if you wanted to talk about your problems and get an answer, talk to your husband, and if you wanted to talk about your problems and just commiserate, talk to your girlfriends.  As I'm writing this, I'm realizing that she was at least into gender politics the whole time, as she clearly enjoyed defining what men and women do.  But anyway.  I apparently listen like a man.  I like to come up with a solution for people's problems, and I don't really understand the appeal of talking about them without brainstorming possible next steps.  This drives some of my friends crazy, I know, but I can't help it.  Well, let me rephrase that.  I can help it.  But then I would be frustrated and I am way too selfish for that.


So what does this have to do with cafeteria line love?  It means that I have a hard time not wanting to give up on people when they don't fix the things that I clearly see they need to fix.  And oh my goodness, I am so glad my friends don't do the same for me.  In fact, I'm realizing as I write this (also learning from this entry that I don't think a lot of things through until I write them out...) that a common thread among my closest friends is that I get frustrated with them for being so accepting of people, even when I think they need to get madder or cut more people off.  I guess they're in my life to show me that that is not how love works.  And I am very glad they are.  Even if I don't always learn the lesson.


Although I'm also watching a lot of Homeland, and learning that ANYONE CAN BE A TERRORIST.  So there's that.