No "Mellow" in Melodrama

Some folks calls it "melodrama," I call it "soap opera," mmmhmm. -Carl Childers, if someone were to ask him what he thought of how overly self-absorbed people tend to behave.


I have received many good pieces of advice in my day, some from very unlikely sources. I cannot recall where I learned the following gem, but it went something like this; "Each time you find yourself getting angry, you should stop and ask yourself, 'What am I so mad about?'"

I had a bad temper and was not particularly proud of it. So when I began to follow this advice, I was shocked to realize that an estimated 99% of my anger was caused because things were not going exactly as I might have preferred.

No ill treatment at the hands of others, mind you, no deliberately hateful attitudes on their part. Just life. And it was pissing me off.

Isn't that shameful? I was ashamed. I needed to be. Somewhere in this same time frame, I learned the simple expression, "Oh well."

Not that I want to be indifferent. Not about things that matter, anyhow. Just in matters concerning my own pride or convenience.

I don't know if its the night-time dramas or the reality shows on television or what, but there seems to be an epidemic of self-absorbed behavior going on.

Maybe I shouldn't blame TV. Maybe it's just bad parenting. I don't know.

Don Henley pointed out in one of his songs that we live "in such a graceless age."

Maybe that's it. Maybe not enough Christians are sharing the grace that God has so freely given us. You know: forgiveness, selflessness and some of that fruit of the Spirit like lovingkindness and self-control.

Someone once told me there are two kinds of people in the world: those who live their lives like a soap opera, and those who live it like a Bugs Bunny cartoon.

Not necessarily sound advice, but I think a wise saying.

There is another wise saying: "Get over yourself."

I'm trying, alright?