I Don't Understand

     I'm sixty-eight years old so you might expect that the experience of living has given me a better understanding of life. That's true to some extent but life has changed vastly since I was young. It's become more complicated in many ways but we as a society have forgotten some of the basics of living.

     Young families today, struggle with outside influences that parents of my generation did not have. The social networks effect child rearing, which make it that much harder for parents raise their children to high standards.

     Technology is basically good, but not when it's interrupts a healthy family life. Sometimes parents need to say "No" without any explanation. If your three-year old child tells you they were born in the wrong body, that's a good time to ignore that comment. When I was three I wanted to be Superman then a Texas Ranger, a space explorer and a cowboy. I was influenced by television. My parents didn't take any of this serious or even comment about my desires. They knew to wait a week because my desires would change. A three year old should not run your household.

     I see young people with weaknesses that seem to be a result of weak parenting. When I was young everything didn't always workout but people from my generation weren't coddled. We learned to deal with difficulties, which made it easier the next time we ran up against a wall. We didn't whine and moan every time someone made a derogatory comment toward us. We were taught to laugh it off. That doesn't happen as much now. The youth of today has become ultra sensitive twisting words and phrases skewing the meaning. I congratulate those young parents raising their children to be upstanding citizens. I believe there are many but they are unrecognized because good parenting is not news worthy.

     I don't understand LGBT but I would give them the same respect I give others. I don't need or want to know about your sexual preference. It's not important or relevant to me so I won't be judging. You deserve the same rights as me but not more.

     There are rules at home, in schools, in the military and in life that are there to make life better, but only if you follow them. We all have an opinion but if we don't listen to others opinions, we will be missing half of the information.

     I don't understand why some people think they're always right and others are always wrong. I don't understand why the more powerful a person is the less tolerant they become. I don't understand dark humor or tragic comedies. Dark and tragic are the opposite of comedy to me. I don't understand hate and all that it brings with it. I'm not convinced that more guns make life better and I don't understand why my opinion should be so polarizing.

     There is a lot I don't understand but maybe I don't need to understand everything. The one thing I do understand and believe is life gets better when you treat others with respect. Just Saying….