I’ve made an observation about myself lately, and a friend mentioned this morning that what I’m going through might be described as a mid-life crisis. No, I haven’t gone out and bought a little red convertible nor have I scheduled any cosmetic procedures nor broken off any long-term relationship to attach myself to someone 20 years my junior.
I have instead come to the realization that I’m finally imposing the boundaries and filters that should have been there all along and no longer behaving like a doormat. Case in point, my blog from a few days ago where I called the office predator on the carpet for his unwelcome and inappropriate behavior. I didn’t do it 10, 20 or 30 years ago, but should have.
I’ve also come to the realization that the job I have is adversely affecting me in every way, so it’s up to me to do something about it. I have to figure out what it is I really want to do for my paycheck, then figure out how to make it happen. Perhaps this isn’t the ideal time given our current economic situation, but neither is it an ideal time to work myself into a stroke or heart attack. I still have boys to finish raising.
So here is the tie-in you’re probably looking for: Are we in the midst of a national mid-life crisis? We should be.
It’s past time that we impose filters and boundaries on what we will accept from our career politicians and government. Instead of it being about what is good for them, it needs to be about what is good for all of us.
If our national healthcare is subpar for a large percentage of the population, we should demand that we — you know, the people — have access to the same healthcare and benefits that our elected representatives have. If at least 40% of our taxes go down a hole in a foreign country never to be seen or paid back again, we should demand that the money be spent here on things that will directly benefit us. If our national education system is declining, we should demand that actually educating rather than just standardized testing be made a national priority since it directly affects our collective futures. Are you getting the idea?
These are not pre-pubescent or adolescent demands, nor should they be considered the ravings of meno- or andropausal lunatics. I’ve thought about this for a while, as I’m guessing we all have. It’s just time to activate the filters, definitively establish the boundaries, and draw the proverbial line in the sand. There are only 500-and-something of them, after all, and a couple of hundred million of us. We’re in charge. They work for us.
It’s time to impose those boundaries for “We, the People”, not act like “we the sheeple”. No doormats here, fellow Americans. How about a reminder of why the American Revolution was fought in the first place?
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