Taking things for granted...

Beware, deep blog ahead!

So I stumbled upon a wonderful poem that saddened my heart a little bit:

Cranky Old Man.....
What do you see nurses? . . .. . .What do you see?
What are you thinking .. . when you're looking at me?
A cranky old man, . . . . . .not very wise,
Uncertain of habit .. . . . . . . .. with faraway eyes?
Who dribbles his food .. . ... . . and makes no reply.
When you say in a loud voice . .'I do wish you'd try!'
Who seems not to notice . . .the things that you do.
And forever is losing . . . . . .. . . A sock or shoe?
Who, resisting or not . . . ... lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding . . . .The long day to fill?
Is that what you're thinking?. .Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse .you're not looking at me.
I'll tell you who I am . . . . .. As I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding, .. . . . as I eat at your will.
I'm a small child of Ten . .with a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters .. . . .. . who love one another
A young boy of Sixteen . . . .. with wings on his feet
Dreaming that soon now . . .. . . a lover he'll meet.
A groom soon at Twenty . . . ..my heart gives a leap.
Remembering, the vows .. .. .that I promised to keep.
At Twenty-Five, now . . . . .I have young of my own.
Who need me to guide . . . And a secure happy home.
A man of Thirty . .. . . . . My young now grown fast,
Bound to each other . . .. With ties that should last.
At Forty, my young sons .. .have grown and are gone,
But my woman is beside me . . to see I don't mourn.
At Fifty, once more, .. ...Babies play 'round my knee,
Again, we know children . . . . My loved one and me.
Dark days are upon me . . . . My wife is now dead.
I look at the future ... . . . . I shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing .. . . young of their own.
And I think of the years . . . And the love that I've known.
I'm now an old man . . . . . . .. and nature is cruel.
It's jest to make old age . . . . . . . look like a fool.
The body, it crumbles .. .. . grace and vigour, depart.
There is now a stone . . . where I once had a heart.
But inside this old carcass . A young man still dwells,
And now and again . . . . . my battered heart swells
I remember the joys . . . . .. . I remember the pain.
And I'm loving and living . . . . . . . life over again.
I think of the years, all too few . . .. gone too fast.
And accept the stark fact . . . that nothing can last.
So open your eyes, people .. . . . .. . . open and see.
Not a cranky old man .
Look closer . . . . see .. .. . .. .... . ME!!

It's amazing what we miss. We all look at people and judge them by appearance or by the way they act when we first meet them. First impressions are often wrong and if we don't give people the chance will we truly be able to say we like or dislike that person? I want to be able to give people the chance to get to know me and give myself the chance to get to know people. Look around at your friends and ask yourself, do you really know them? Is there something about them that tells you that maybe you need to look a little bit deeper and you've just taken for granted that they've told you everything that you need to know? I can see in some people that their soul has been hurt by something or someone and they just put up a facade of being happy, funny or just trying to act normal. There's always a chink in the chain at some point, it's just seeing it and reassuring someone you're always there for them and they can trust you and talk to you about anything. I'd like to think my close friends could come to me about anything, I'm quite a listener and if you need to just get something out of your system, I'm quite good at just being a shoulder to cry on and I hope my friends see that. 

So often we take people or places for granted. For example, I've complained that Bangor can be crappy at times but really, it's a beautiful place to live. We're right beside the sea, can go walk along the coast at any time we like but just because there isn't much to do in the town center we think it's kinda rubbishy when in fact we just take our beautiful scenery for granted. I could stay up all night and just listen to the waves crash against the rocks and just for once, appreciate what I have right now. Sometimes things fall apart, things end and we don't want them to. I'm moving onto the next stage of my life at the minute and to be honest, it's scary. Something inside me is freaking out a little bit because I'm growing up and there's nothing I can do to stop it. Everything that has been so certain up to now has ended. You always think things will last forever, school for example, you can't wait for it to end and you never really believe it will but then it does and you're left thinking, wow... I'm not going back to school in September, I'm not going to see some people ever again and I the people I'm closest to are moving elsewhere, as am I. For 7 weeks in September I'll be in a completely different culture, Romania. While everyone else is in the UK I'm going to Eastern Europe, scary right? But exciting at the same time because I'm going to gain a whole new perspective on what I have and what is valuable to me. I'll come back and be in Monkstown which is about 40 minutes from Bangor which is good and I can't wait to get to work there too! 

In church yesterday, our minister was preaching about being thankful. As I reflected on this I found I complain... a lot. And why should I because I live in the #7 richest country in the world! That's crazy! So many people have less than me and they don't complain because they value what they have more than I do. They have the bare essentials, sometimes not even, and can rejoice in that because they haven't been spoiled by adverts telling them they need to have the latest laptop, iphone, ipad or whatever else we 'need'. We're so materialistic and don't try and trick yourself by saying you're not because let's face it practically everyone in the UK is. Not necessarily our own personal fault but we can't completely blame advertisers for our own greed.

I challenge anyone (who has managed to get this far in the very long blog) to look into their lives and see the people, places and objects around them and not be grateful that they have family, a bed, a laptop or a place they know to be beautiful and can easily get to it. Just look into your life and be thankful for what you do have rather than looking and seeing what isn't there.

As difficult as it is to not want or long for something we don't have, think of something you do have.

Crappy job? At least you have one.
Old laptop? At least you have one.
Car that's falling apart? At least you have one.
Annoying family? At least you have one.

I think I've made my point here. I can learn from my own babbles too. My name's Charlotte McVeigh and I'm a typical Northern Irish complainer. I'm not just going to deal with it and accept it, I want to change it. I hope you do too.

Charlotte :3