imperfectly okay

I am okay.

I am okay today. I should be ecstatic, as everything is going extremely well in my life lately, but I will settle with being perfectly okay. But, I am bothered, too. I am bothered, because such a large portion of our world does not seem to be. And, I am scared. I am scared to death of the kind of world into which my future children will be born. When I become a mother, I want the quality of the lives of my children to improve from my own by at least 10%. My parents did that for me and my brother, and I would like to pass that along to my children, so that they will do the same for their own children later on.

Unfortunately, I feel as if the world in which we live thrives on all things superficial. We hand out fame like the teachers of our pasts handed out detention slips. The more ridiculous one is, the more he or she will be acclaimed by the general public for his or her individuality, regardless of one's motives or reasons. We are a split nation, spending precious time and effort fighting each other regarding rights that should be seen as basic and equal. We pick sides, literally voting on issues concerning which types of love are considered valid and worthy of acknowledgment. We look down on those that dare to disagree with opinions that we often claim to feel strongly for or against before taking the time to research the issues at hand. We are people that feel entitled to certain things, as if it is okay to expect luxurious items and special treatment without ever having to work for a bit of it. We praise all things ridiculous, often failing to remember that the fifty thousand dollars paid for a drunken attention seeker to make an appearance at a night club could be used to help one of the many different charities struggling to help those in dire need.

After joining Twitter a while back, I was initially drawn to the humor I found in the tweets of certain "celebrities." After a while, however, I stopped looking at these people as hilarious, and I started to see them as pathetic, self-centered, ignorant, and selfish individuals. Not only do I not wish to be famous, but I almost pity those that are. I am able to keep secrets. I can spend time with friends, do ridiculous things, make inappropriate statements, and have bad hair days without photographs of it being analyzed and turned into magazine headlines. I can get married, have children, and be happy without the entire world accusing me of relationship problems due to a bad mood that got captured in a picture. Anybody can find a way to become a celebrity. However, they can't ever go back to having the things that we have. And, I wouldn't trade the life I have for anything in the world. I can't envy someone that I pity. But, I can make sure that my kids know that being famous does not make someone a good person, just as it does not make one a bad person.

There is always a way to make money. But, this is the one life I get, and I'm not going to waste it on a constant search for something that can come and go in the blink of an eye.

I am okay, both perfectly AND imperfectly. And, I wouldn't change a thing.