Get A Grip

When is it ok to get emotional in public? When you win a Nobel Peace Prize or maybe during the photo op when you win big at the lottery game? Or is it perhaps possible that emotions are best left at home to be taken out whenever you are alone or with close family members who won't feel ackward as you bare all your innards. I am not talking about seething anger, an emotion not always welcome in the public arena but certainly understood if the provocation is proven to be top notch. This does not mean that you may respond in anger while operating a vehicle or piloting a plane although it does mean that sometimes in the workplace there are provocateurs who really do need a hefty dose of your pent up frustration (which only exisits because of them)to finally be released directly back at them in the form of 'put you in your place I won't take this anymore' controlled but devastating, feel great (to you) payback anger. Now that we've dealt with the anger let's look at the flip side... the crybaby who feels an innate need to let all his personal grief, guilt and any other manner of neuroses which had heretofore lain more or less dormant come bubbling to the surface in any public arena no matter how inappropriate the venue...This is the consummate emotional wreck who really has no business being in any public arenas whatsoever until intense therapy has taught him how to manage his many needs and moods without drawing the innocent into the fray of his web of hysteria or self-aggrandization. The crier has been known to elicit all manner of responses from people unexpectedly on the receiving end of this emotional roller coaster gone wildly out of control. In fact these overzealous kleenex addicts get better and better at 'pulling the wool etc" than a family pack of Australian sheep herders. We must be ever vigilant and never succumb to this well rehearsed camouflage. If you get a chance to say to one of these lost souls, "get a grip!" and they do, it will be a miracle. If the 'get a grip' advisory doesn't work, and if you care, get them to a good facility.

See-Saw

There comes a time although we may fight it, when we need to relinquish our optimistic take on childish games in much the same way that we've given up on regular visits to the playground sections at the park. There are so many instances in life that recall the see-saws we loved to go on as children, and it is probably that fondly remembered up and down ride that prevents us from stamping out the non-wonderful see-saw experiences that seem to be everywhere in our adult lives. Our memories are sun-dappled and remain untarnished so it is not easy to ward off the rides that are nothing like our sepia hued past experiences at the playground. The simplest way to end the newer type of ride that can only end badly-not unlike those rare instances where your "supposed" best friend left you high up in the air only to drop you suddenly with little fanfare and a resounding painful boom- is to refuse to get on. The power of just saying "no" is great enough to protect from any and/or all types of sudden unexpected let downs and does wonders for keeping your
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Parents And Children by guest writer Sophia

What is the issue on parents and children? Is it fair for adults to boss children around, maybe not but children have to deal with it. So sometimes kids get pushed around and sometimes they are told to do something they don't want to do. Most of the time the parents make the right decission and the kids end up making the wrong one, but don't you think that once in a while the parents should just let the kid do what they want and have them make the wrong decision. It is really unhealthy for the kid to not be able to make their own decisions, because later in life they're not going to have their parents say "honey you can't do that you have to do this" They are on their own. So through their childhood you need to mix in the occasional okay honey. Even if they make the wrong decision they have to learn from their mistakes.

When Dad won't Listen For Sophia

How does a 12 year old child make her father listen. It's not that he cannot hear what she says, it is that he chooses to disregard and in so doing he is unable to correct a behaviour that causes her consternation. It is totally within his power to change and actually he would be demonstrating a non stubborn streak which would be a really good thing but it's as if he can't see the forest for the trees. The fact that he sees his daughter as headstrong and/or stubborn is the perfect instance where the apples don't fall far from the.........

Not 60 Yet

Somehow entering my 60th year is a lot less traumatic than my next birthday will be, at least this is what I think today when scotch drunk in celebration fails to result in any numbing and the absence of a cake doesn't phase me one bit. Something has to give so I assume that I am saving my angst for next April. This is in fact a plan as why should I summon up perfectly good angst until I really need it? Dinner with great live music and excellent company has made today just perfect and that along with not yet being 60 makes this birthday the best in a long time.

Is It A Plane? No It's A Bird

If you believe in reincarnation you have surely wondered in what form you might have previously manifested yourself. It is usually a crapshoot when one opines or hazards a guess except for the case of the 'artiste' then it is crystal clear what one must have been prior to taking on the human form. A musician has to have been a bird, so taken is he/she with the various trills and whistles, bells too that there could be no other possible explanation. The nomadic wanderlust that defines the artiste surely evolves from the constant flights through the air and the many nests that have been so ably feathered, by the bird! The nouveau artiste with a penchant for things 'green' must have been a bird who spent his/her avian nightlife sheltered beneath the green ceilings of the boughs of the trees. The degrees of difficulty where life is concerned vary only slightly when comparing humans and birds. Migration south as birds are wont to do is definitely akin to moving to wherever there is a market for your art. The two have many converging points and perhaps it is wise to maintain some of the things you learned as a bird and to incorporate them into your human persona. This may involve teaching yourself to 'whistle while you work' and if you do, things should go just swimmingly, unless of course you figure out that you were once a water creature; that, clearly, is a whole other kettle of fish!!

Who're You Going To Kiss

New Years Eve is with one exception a changing celebration so while the venues are different. the one constant is the midnight kiss which occurs after the customary countdown. This is when you step out of the old and into the new. At the stroke of midnight you kiss your nearest and dearest and you must ensure that the kiss lasts at least a full minute or it does not count and would be deemed a wasted buss! In the absence of your ideal kissing partner you should always have a backup plan to avoid being locked into any less than comfortable clinches. If at a dance, you must be cognizent of the time and if it is close to the kissing hour you are advised NOT to accept a dance from your sisters husbands Uncle Jim who aside from being a cigar aficionado, is not even close to Fred Astaire and is certain to trample your tootsies. You must also run from a dance with the self proclaimed Romeo who has been to the bar at least one time too many, no need to join him when he loses his footing as a fall to the floor would not be an attractive look for you at any time. Should you find yourself at a house party and figure out that you are the intended of the only other unattached person in the room, you must casually slip away to the little girls room at 11:59, but be sure to lock the door behind you! This will avoid any discomfort and/or dishonesty unless of course he is your type.
In the end, remember that it is your decision who to kiss. Happy New Year!