Five memes that suck
There are some memes getting around that frankly, I just can’t stand. And I know I shouldn’t get so worked up about a few words here and there, but my concern lies with people who are more vulnerable, people who will take note of them. People who don’t necessarily understand the world of natural health. I’ll explain with each in the list and you’ll start to see why. Well I hope so anyway 🙂
Number 1: How I React To Spilt Milk Determines How Happy My Child Will Be As An Adult
I get where this is going – which is beautiful, but come on. Everyone loses their shit from time to time (this blog post of mine would probably qualify for one of those times) and to insinuate that going off my rocker will do damage to my child that will have them on a therapists table in 20 years time because of it is NOT helping anyone. If you’re rushing out of the house to drop the kids off, get to work before that 9.30am meeting and you have to change yours and the kids clothes because of a spilt glass of milk, let it out sister.
I’m no angel and you’re probably not either. So long as you remember to apologise for the behaviour and it doesn’t happen all the time, I’m sure we can manage to avoid therapy for that stunt. My take is to stick to the 80/20 rule for this one: be calm 80{b45efdd3eb7c0c4fff4c3ac26ec3bf28e8b0e1ac25bcedeef9395c9a618472f7} of the time and forgive yourself (and apologise) for the 20{b45efdd3eb7c0c4fff4c3ac26ec3bf28e8b0e1ac25bcedeef9395c9a618472f7} you lose it.
Number 2: My Friends Must Be The Most Important Thing In My World
Seriously? I can’t even articulate how much of an issue I have with this one. Let me paint a picture instead. What if I am working full time in a job that isn’t my passion. But every other weekend I am studying to be the <insert profession here> that I have dreamed of for countless years. And I’m unfortunate enough to have a parent who is terminally ill but lives 3 hours away from where I live. So all my spare time is spent supporting and spending valuable, quality time with them. Who’s the ass now?
Priorities change, nothing is concrete and frankly, good friends don’t care if you don’t make time for them ALL the time. They support you through crap times, not make things worse for you. So yes, you may head south on the priority list, but it may be temporary and it may be for a bloody good reason. Sheesh.
Number 3: You Must Be Happy 24/7
Oh for goodness sake, why the obsession with always being happy? Firstly, having this expectation of always being happy can make you feel like a failure when you’re NOT happy. Secondly, it’s just not bloody realistic to be happy ALL the time. Thirdly, and most importantly, if you’re never sad, how do you know how good it is to be happy? Society sucks on this one. Being sad is JUST AS IMPORTANT to your health as being happy. And every emotion in the middle should be felt too. And suppressing your dark or lower emotions is not helping anyone.
Chinese Medicine teaches us that a little bit of everything every day keeps us in balance and emotions are no exception to this rule. Is it any wonder our children have no resilience when they have an expectation to always be happy when it’s unrealistic? Puh-lease!
Number 4: Strong Women Don’t Cry
WT?! Haven’t we gone beyond this kind of crap now that we’ve hit the 20th century? Crying is not, has never and won’t ever be a sign of weakness. Not in my world. Nor is smiling a sign of strength. Crying is wonderful, it’s raw, vulnerable and can be powerfully cathartic. That in itself is the strength in the act.
If we’re still teaching our young girls AND boys that crying is a sign of weakness, we are teaching them that their emotions must be bottled up. That’s the REAL reason your child will be on the table of a therapist in 20 years time – ridding themselves of all those emotions that were bottled up as a child.
Now think of all the adults who still believe this. Be real. Just cry if you want or need to cry. The more efficient we get at feeling and releasing these emotions, the more balanced we become.
Number 5: Let’s Make Fun of Those Who Give a Crap About Natural Health
This one is all sorts of wrong but it’s more than just a meme. It’s an attitude in our society, especially here in Australia. The ‘she’ll be right’ approach means that anyone who takes an interest in looking after themselves (or their family) – except for maybe playing sport – is labelled a hippy, hipster, new-age and openly ridiculed. For me it’s now old and tiring.
The same people often say to me “at least I’ll die happy”. But I watched my mum die and it was all but a happy experience. So leave us the frack alone and let us eat our pesticide free, non-hormone disrupting, chemical-shitstorm-free diets and we can all just move along now. You can continue to hate natural health some other place.
I’m sure there’s plenty more, but that’s enough to get off my chest for now. If you can relate, spread my annoyance by sharing to your socials below…