Is the grass really ever greener???

A very good friend of mine compared me to Erma Bombeck yesterday morning. At first I was very annoyed, "GREAT! He just called me old!" I thought! But then after a few minutes of searching her on the Internet I found myself laughing... ALOT!! I guess I knew who she was, but had apparently tucked that bit of knowledge away for use at a later time, and forgot which fat roll I tucked it under! Anyway, for those that don't know who she was, she was a newspaper columnist that wrote about (from what I found anyway, and forgive me if I am wrong) the trials and tribulations of suburban life. More importantly, being a suburban housewife. She was hilarious! The Greatest quote, and title to her book, "The grass is always greener over the septic tank". HA! Funny, right? But, true? I mean think about it... why is the grass greener there... cause there is so much shhhhhh... manure!

I have spent a great deal of time looking at all these people.. famous people, neighbors, friends, strangers that have these "perfect" lives. I have always thought that they had it together. Until, they get divorced, or one of the spouses cheated, or it came out that they were losing everything because of financial problems. So their grass wasn't really greener, they just used much better green spray paint on their lawn! Looking at other peoples lives and wishing for the "what ifs" and "why not Me's" led to about an extra 50 pounds of FAT on my rear side (and every other side for that matter). It is a long lonely road! So the key must be that you have to change your perception of the grass!

Looking at the pictures of what we are "supposed" to be ~ Skinny, Tall, Well Dressed, Successful, Wealthy, "The American Dream".... What the hell does all that mean?! Who makes up the rules of what qualifies for all those things? Can't they all mean something else to everyone? Instead of "skinny" why cant we change that to healthy? Why does a clothing size get to determine our beauty? Why does a job title get to determine our success? Why does our success get to be determined by our wealth? And again, Who is determining where that line is of success and failure, skinny and fat, well dressed and unfashionable??? I am by no means rich, but I have a rich life. I am by no means fashionable, but I have nice clothing, I don't live in a big house but I have a Home. I know people with $5 in the bank with the best lives, and people living in $400,000 houses without a stitch of love or joy under the roof!

I know that I can look at every laugh, or cry line that I have on my face, every grey hair, every saggy black bag under my eyes and know how I got them. No botox to straighten them out, no hair color to cover them up, no make up to hide my exhaustion. I earned those! With a little help from my kids, and life! Just like I earned every extra pound that I am now earning and choosing to lose! I made the decision to gain that weight, even if it was a subconscious decision, and I am now shedding those pounds looking for a glimmer of what my idea is of health, success and "skinny". So, as I have recently learned with some of those people that we are chasing to be just like, or dreaming our lives could be theirs, they are not always what they are cracked up to be! Sometimes the only reason the grass is so green is it is really astro turf, or you cant sit on it and enjoy it cause it smells of bull manure!

I think the key is to be grateful for what we have, not always happy with it, just grateful. We could be much much worse off! To stop dreaming about how our lives could have turned out and start living the lives that did turn out. So I will keep my grass with all of its over growth and weeds, brown patches or spots where it hasn't even grown in yet, and know that it is bull-s**t free! That it hasn't been painted over or falsified. It may not be perfect. It may not be the life that you want. It may not be the ideal situation. But, it's mine! It is the hand I was dealt, the path I was given. There are blue skies behind the clouds, and it's my time to enjoy the sunshine... with my "inner skinny" or outer healthy, or anything else in between!

" Before trying to keep up with the Joneses, make sure they are not trying to keep up with you" Erma Bombeck