Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Under the mattress

This morning I decided to turn the mattress and topper on my platform bed. It is a pillow top mattress with only one side up so I had to huff and puff and turn it 180 degrees. During the process I reached below the slats and discovered, along with all kinds of detritus, four pair of reading glasses and a favorite book. And it occurred to me, what would I find if I changed my attitude?

I am not the kind of person who accepts "it has always been that way" as a reason for continuing anything that doesn't make sense. Just as I won't accept people accepting bad behavior from an individual because it is the way that person acts. If something doesn't make sense, either change it, or explain it to me so that it does make sense. And if a person acts unacceptably, do not just go along with it, tell them that poor behavior will not be tolerated. You don't have to go along with it because "that's just the way he is".  You can, of course, do whatever you want; I choose to do differently.

That is not to say I am 100% open minded. Not at all. But by being aware of being stuck in one spot, and becoming a little concerned about that one spot, I become open to changing my position. Just as I can't flip that mattress over because that would be wrong for the mattress, I can not totally flip my attitudes. I will not become a racist because that is wrong. But maybe by turning around the way I think I might discover that yes, I do have some racist detritus, as worthless as used tissues. By seeing the trash, I can deal with it. And by moving my attitudes a few degrees, I can be open to finding old values and discovering something wonderful. I can't say what because I haven't discovered it yet.

Definitely time to clear off the coffee table and vacuum the carpet. Adventures await.

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