Redneck Review!
No. 113 - 6/19/2017
Last week's theme "Life is a Battle" keeps returning to me from time to time, daily refreshed by articles in the news or on TV. Even the   GOLDEN YEARS discussed last week's review reinforces the idea that Life is indeed a Battle!
But beneath it all, and maybe behind the scene, is it not true that life is a battle for all of us from the time we can walk and talk right up to our date with the grave. Even the smallest child will develop a stubborn look and run the other way when a parent forcefully tells them, "No!  Do not throw your food on the floor!" Or "How many times do I have to tell you to use the toilet, and not just dump in your drawers?" Or how about that brief but determined silent pout when a parent insists that some youngster do it their way and not continue the conduct the child insists on themselves!
And maybe we older folks need to admit that we too often find ourselves insisting on a course of action that irritates or offends another!  Or maybe it is common sense that we deliberately choose to ignore, or perhaps a law that we find inconvenient or maybe irritating at the time. This happened to me recently when I decided to ignore the speed limit coming down the hill from Whitebird, and allowed my old Toyota, with a slight bit of pressure on the peddle, to reach an exhilarating speed of 80+ mph!  Little did I know that anon duty state officer was sitting near the bottom of the hill, and very shortly, as I reduced my speed down to the legal 60 plus to make the left turn on to Johnson road, when whoops!  Red lights behind me all of a sudden, and a 15 minute conversation by a polite but dutiful officer who reminded me of the law and my excess speed!  Results not revealed here, but regardless, a clear case of my wanting to do it my way!
Thinking about it even more, is it not behind almost every little conflict that occurs everyday, from the simplest spat between two people to a threatened all-out war between two nations?  Is it not really just a battle between a person's desire to do it one way, and then ignore the option of a different course of action?  Does it not really boil down to a battle that we all fight every day if not every hour of every day? A simple little reality that we all want it our way, and not some alternative that forces us to step back, suppress our own will and choose to bow to another?
Maybe all of us and the world in general would be better off if we followed the famous saying of one time Chicago Bears NFL running back Brian Piccolo, who is said to have coined the phrase while battling cancer.  "The Lord is first, my friends are second, and I am third."  Would this not diffuse most battles that arise between two people who find themselves at odds, if one or both the parties would simply step back, suppress their own feelings and agree to the other?  Would it not reduce tensions if two nations tried hard to understand the others point of view?  Maybe even just give in a bit to keep the peace?
On a local level, if a man and wife would each swallow their own position, and graciously accept that of the other?  Or a teenager would simply end an argument by agreeing to a parent's wish by accepting their direction rather than continuing to insist on their own?
And back to the news for one moment!  Is it not true that behind all the conflict on a local or national level is the belief that my way or our way is better, and therefore others must bend to my way or own point of view? And the failure to recognize the inherent differences in people and their way of thinking and the necessity to understand and respect them is the reason that Life is a Battle, and a battle there will always be unless things change?
Jake Wren

Home

Classified Ads