The following is an excerpt from part two:
Perhaps Cole and his sister are familiar with The Adventure of Helen. They share the same unfortunate mentality; we suffer losses because they are determined to get their way. We are raped of our reputation and our status in the community. We are deprived of our home and our jobs. We are stripped of our future and our freedom. We plead to the molestation charges as a matter of survival and have learned to embrace the outcome.
They have no idea of the ripple effect their stunt has produced, nor does the concept of care enter the equation. Considering the benefits I have acquired, I would not exchange a strand of it. As on the TV show with irrational complainants and with our dear “friend” Helen, nothing else matters. For her and our (x) kids, retaliation for imaginary unfairness becomes an insane obsession. I want my way.
Be it a conscious or unconscious choice, productive or destructive, I will get my way too. We all will.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
The Adventures of Helen
The following is an excerpt from part two:
The Four Agreements, (Reprinted with permission of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. © 1997 by Miguel Angel Ruiz, M.D.) advises: “Don’t take it personally.” This is Helen’s drama, her distorted dream. We are in this crazy situation to begin with because she has been trained to take everything personally. All that is left for us to do is allow her to dwell in misery. She is set in the way of hell. We do not need to accompany her on the tour just as we need not dwell on the injustice brought on by our children.
Jim Stovall tells a story of wisdom for the ages in The King’s Legacy.* Many of the townspeople provide the king with their version of wisdom. Finally the jester imparts, “There is nothing more vital than laughter...I wish you the ability to pause at the most difficult and trying times of life, and simply laugh.” We are not going to change Helen. We are not going to reverse the edict. We might as well seize the opportunity to have a good laugh.
As it turns out, The Adventures of Helen yields terrific opportunity. She provides me with material to compose an entire chapter. As if that is not enough, we end up finding a beautiful apartment for a terrific price. The neighborhood is serene. The property owners are firmly on their rockers. I can bask in peaceful tranquility with my laptop. We all got just what we wanted.
The Four Agreements, (Reprinted with permission of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. © 1997 by Miguel Angel Ruiz, M.D.) advises: “Don’t take it personally.” This is Helen’s drama, her distorted dream. We are in this crazy situation to begin with because she has been trained to take everything personally. All that is left for us to do is allow her to dwell in misery. She is set in the way of hell. We do not need to accompany her on the tour just as we need not dwell on the injustice brought on by our children.
Jim Stovall tells a story of wisdom for the ages in The King’s Legacy.* Many of the townspeople provide the king with their version of wisdom. Finally the jester imparts, “There is nothing more vital than laughter...I wish you the ability to pause at the most difficult and trying times of life, and simply laugh.” We are not going to change Helen. We are not going to reverse the edict. We might as well seize the opportunity to have a good laugh.
As it turns out, The Adventures of Helen yields terrific opportunity. She provides me with material to compose an entire chapter. As if that is not enough, we end up finding a beautiful apartment for a terrific price. The neighborhood is serene. The property owners are firmly on their rockers. I can bask in peaceful tranquility with my laptop. We all got just what we wanted.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
The problem is “them”
The following is an excerpt from part two:
In response to the rent increase letter, we send a notice that we are moving, effective the day before the rate hike. It turns out to be an unsurpassed opportunity that spurs us into finding a decent place to live. The inordinate increase is a clear message that she wants us gone. It is the nose-cutting for- spite routine. Rationality is ignored. At least we need no longer be concerned that we will cause hurt feelings. Now she has both units empty. She will probably need another home equity loan to carry her through the next few months of gambling.
Helen is destined to a lifetime of misery and suffering; she is accustomed to perpetuating exactly that. We are the first tenants in fourteen years who lasted longer than a few months. No one can put up with her nonsense. She sees the problem as being “them.” They are all screwed up. Her paltry existence makes her happy. That is the important thing. She will take her happiness to her grave. Is it any wonder that countries go to war when “friends” cannot even get along?
I could get angry over the affair. I could even choose hatred. The only person to be affected would be me. I could live the life of debauchery and discontent that infects Helen’s joyous abode. It comes down to a choice. I could rekindle the despondency that loomed in our home up until the very second of Erin and Cole’s displacement; that’s another choice.
In response to the rent increase letter, we send a notice that we are moving, effective the day before the rate hike. It turns out to be an unsurpassed opportunity that spurs us into finding a decent place to live. The inordinate increase is a clear message that she wants us gone. It is the nose-cutting for- spite routine. Rationality is ignored. At least we need no longer be concerned that we will cause hurt feelings. Now she has both units empty. She will probably need another home equity loan to carry her through the next few months of gambling.
Helen is destined to a lifetime of misery and suffering; she is accustomed to perpetuating exactly that. We are the first tenants in fourteen years who lasted longer than a few months. No one can put up with her nonsense. She sees the problem as being “them.” They are all screwed up. Her paltry existence makes her happy. That is the important thing. She will take her happiness to her grave. Is it any wonder that countries go to war when “friends” cannot even get along?
I could get angry over the affair. I could even choose hatred. The only person to be affected would be me. I could live the life of debauchery and discontent that infects Helen’s joyous abode. It comes down to a choice. I could rekindle the despondency that loomed in our home up until the very second of Erin and Cole’s displacement; that’s another choice.
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