86,400 Seconds

I watched a musical today. It was actually a pretty good movie. For some reason, it made me think of the movie, “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.” The title alone is intriguing. The story line, reminds me of my life in the months past. The main character is struggling to journey home, accompanied by, at times, less than desirable company. This reminds me of my life: struggling to find home, who I am, and where I belong, accompanied by some less than desirable company from time to time. Today makes me feel like my journey home is going to be even more of a struggle than I have ever anticipated.

I live in a location that experiences a high volume of plane, railway, and automobile traffic. Do you ever wonder, while watching an airplane overhead, who is on the plane? Or think about where they are going? What is being transported on that train driving by, blowing it’s whistles at really annoying times of the day? Who is in the sleek silver BMW driving down the freeway with the windows down singing along to the music? The past month I have had more and more of an itch to just get in my car and drive. Go somewhere warmer. Go somewhere brighter. Go somewhere with less reminders. Go somewhere with different people. Drive and drive and drive. Just go.

This itch is driven by the realization that there are so many people in this world that appear to live their lives only for themselves. They are unable to see beyond their own rose colored glasses. They are unwilling to take a moment out of their day to say thank you or ask if someone needs help. This makes me sad. Recently, I participated in a training session. After 3 and a half hours of this training, I was pretty much zoned out, until the presenter at the moment made a very interesting point. He stated that our generation (yes, I’m talking about my generation) is less caring, less giving then generations of the past. The focus of our lives now is finding the job that will make us the most money, driving that fancy shiny car down the road, traveling in that airplane to an exotic beach location somewhere. The focus has been taken off of the important things. I agree with this observation the trainer had communicated. I’m not big into politics. It seems like no matter who the players are, the story is always the same. Recently, there have been large cuts in areas that I find very important: Care of People. Cuts have been made in areas of caring for individuals with disabilities, individuals with several medical conditions, research into important health programs, education programs. This further shows what the focus of our lives are today.

Obviously, I am not part of the “stereotyped generation” that this presenter was talking about, because I have to work a ton of hours in a low paying social services job in order to make my ends meet. I would give up an opportunity to have a night off with friends to attend a client’s birthday celebration, or to go home and help my family take care of paperwork. I have lived my life trying to give to and help others. Today, my buttons were pushed and I may understand why more and more people have opted to take the “I’m looking for the money” route. As much as I give to so many people, it’s not appreciated. It’s taken for granted. The thank you’s are far and few in between. I’m Steve Martin with the less than desirable company. I don’t like it. I want to have fun, exciting company like Adam Sandler or P!nk. Or Jason Aldean (he’s dreamy)….

So, what do I do? Am I going to drive away from my problems? No I am not. I had an amazing mother who taught me differently. She taught me that it is more important to do something you enjoy and something that may make a difference someday than to have money or other material items. She always said, “You can’t take money with you when you die.” She was right (of course, she always was). You can’t. She taught me to be me, and I enjoy helping others. I am the caregiver type of person. Days like today are just tough. It would just be nice to hear a thank you, or to have someone offer to help. So, I will continue to live life differently than the norm and give. I will make sure to say thank you more and offer my help whenever I can to try and keep more people from joining the “dark side”. I encourage everyone else to do the same. A simple thank you or “great job” can really go far in our world today. It can really make someone’s day. Don’t take our life style for granted. Don’t take life for granted: live it, and live it well. That’s the most important thing in the end.

“God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say ‘thank you?’”

~ Unknown