I’m a light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel/glass-is-more-than-half-full kind of guy. But sometimes I wake up in a bad mood and let my brain smolder over stupid things. This is one of those mornings.
To roll with the moment’s mood, below are a few of the things that piss me off. It’s useful to get angry sometimes — as long as we don’t let it break us.
Mood music for this post comes in two flavors:
“God’s Gonna Cut You Down” by Johnny Cash:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RG7aS07dAN0&hl=en_US&fs=1&]
And “Broken, Beat and Scarred” by Metallica:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7eRiAnZt24&hl=en_US&fs=1&]
Things that piss me off:
— Health insurers who label mental health care as a luxury instead of a necessity, cutting sufferers off from the things that can make them well again.
— The fact that final closure over the death of Sean Marley still alludes me.
— School districts that take kids who are different (special needs) and put them in a box that holds them back; dismissing them as stupid or trouble makers.
— My habit of picking up one addiction after I put down another.
— Fellow church-goers who think themselves more morally pure than everyone else and are quick to judge others, even though God wants us to be humble and forgiving.
— People who write off suicides as damned souls. True, suicide is a mortal sin. But those who do it are often so mentally ill that they’re not doing it in a moment of sanity or clarity. They have fallen to a disease.
— People who dismiss all addicts as idiots who either need sense knocked into them or need to be locked away. Sometimes they do. But addiction is a disease, not an attitude problem. I salute the priest who came clean about his own alcoholism and taught us all a lesson.
— My ongoing penchant for sinning right after I leave the confessional.
— People who pity me for the things I’ve been through. Your heart’s in the right place, but I’ve been through more joy in life than pain, so no pity is required.
— Letting myself go nuts over things I have no business trying to control.
Now for a few people/places/things that keep me grateful and prevent the other things from cutting me down:
— God
— Recovery
— Metal!