Say what you mean

This is an article that says what I mean.

Rev Dorris- I have seen a lot of this too.

I think our current society has erased a lot of the support systems that helped people to deal with everyday crisises in their lives. Time is seen as such a valuable commodity, and no one seems to have much to spare. By the time someone gets a chance to speak to another human being about their situation, a lot of the emotion has either left their awareness, or they have overanalyzed it all. Often people, myself included, look for a quick reply to their obvious angst, so that they can proceed in their own day and accomplish the necessary tasks of the moment. Often, people settle for relationships that are more like gripe sessions – I’ll tell you my grief, then you tell me yours. Another factor complicating the development of true friendships is the current working situation that many find themselves in. Companies either move their workers around constantly, or lay off workers to minimize their budget constraints. This makes for many short-term contacts – not a good place to develop sustained relationships. People turn to therapists or ministers, priests or rabbis for counselling, but this is a one-sided relationship, because the counsellor doesn’t share his or her information with you. The end result is that people become surrounded by lots of” shoulds ” or “musts”, but don’t really change their situation, because it must come from a place within themselves to really mean something to them. Families and neighbors used to give us these long-term relationships to foster self-awareness, but, sadly, a lot of these contacts are lacking in the fast-paced modern world. I think we need to develop communities again. Children will see examples of adults making healthy decisions in their lives, and follow their examples. We could all stop “spinning our wheels”, so to speak, in self-destructive activities. Leslie