I had a seriously, serious hissy fit. I lost my cool and that ain't cool.
I feel much better now. So much better in fact that I could pee my pants. Why? Because I do not owe taxes. That's happened before and it's worse than awful having worked my butt off just to pay more taxes. Did you know that when you cannot pay owed taxes that you can pay in installments at 28% interest? Yeah.
Money is tight, but it's not extinct and it's not everything. I have a roof over my head, clean running water, clothes on my back, friends and family to love and who love me right back... I have my health. I have a great job. Heck, if food is that scarce I can plant a vegetable patch in the front yard and teach myself the craft of canning.
I will not live in fear. I choose to connect with my fellow countrymen and people of the world through love, or something, anything but fear. We each have our challenges and opportunities.
The possibilities are absolutely endless. No more fear.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9N9m_F8ryfc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBlwU0MlUSk
2 comments:
No worries 'bout losing your cool. That's why we have cool in the first place. If you never lose it, you never find it again, and that's no fun, yeah? Part of me wants to feed you a line about how you shouldn't feel bad to pay taxes, that the systems that allow you to communicate and thrive require those taxes to survive, and that even though much of that money goes to bombs and fire and the useless rich, much also goes to good people who need help, goes to roads and electrical lines and all the good stuff that keeps us going, goes to scientific research and NPR and educational grants.
But I know that's cold comfort, and half a load of bull anyway, and I'm not sure I buy it all. Lori and I were hoping for a nice return to help ameliorate the wreck from the sale of our condo, but such was not to be because we're married and don't have kids so we suck in the eyes of the gov'ment. And so it goes.
Keep your chin up, my dear. Things are rough and things ain't fair, but at least they aren't boring.
I don't feel "bad" about paying taxes, I fully realize the need for them... if they were not required, would as many give? What gets me is that I'm not at all convinced that the taxes are really going to all the great things that contribute to a thriving community. I think this whole mess is a blessing in disguise. An opportunity to rethink the way we've been doing things in this country, and throughout the world.
There are too many without the basics, even more without the essentials of a creative and fulfilling life. As of yet there hasn't been much incentive for people to change... Perhaps Obama's call to responsibility will help shift this; volunteerism is up across the nation. Even those without much to give find some way to serve.
It is an exciting, if wracking, time to be alive. It's not easy and it's not boring. Who said it should be anyway?
My mom and I have been talking a lot lately and one of the things she said to me just last night was about a handful of men in the Nazi concentration camps who would take their last piece of bread to those who could no do longer make due with their meager portions; a man cannot always control the course of his destiny, but he can always, always choose his attitude towards it.
This has been an amazingly fruitful experience - this set of posts. I've cycled between anger, frustration, self pity, self loathing, patriotism, balance and upset to feeling supported and returned to my life with a deeper sense of comradery.
I know more than ever that a poor attitude serves no one and no thing.
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