Be Less Miserable!

Any nugget of apparent wisdom that flows from me is quite accidental, I assure you. I don't take myself, or life itself, seriously enough to sit about opining and sharing deep and profound thoughts.

But one occurred to me the other day and I thought I'd run it up the flagpole to see how it unfurls. 

A friend of mine was done dirty by someone, and my first thought was that it was an act that resulted from a cry of jealousy. My friend has a lot of the qualities that might make one envious, although that is not any good reason for doing nasty things to a person.

But, just like the time that someone decided that a peanut butter sandwich could only be made better by adding a little jelly, I had one of those  A-Ha! moments, and it occurred to me to say that miserable people lead miserable lives, and that is their punishment.

Think about it! How many times have you known someone so captious and objectionable that they demean and deride everyone and everything? They're the people with the nasty bumper stickers. They're the people calling talk shows, yammering about things of which they do not know. They're the ones standing up at the PTA meeting calling for an end to sex education and same-sex dating and an end to being asked to volunteer for committees. They're the ones who try to get away with ethnic jokes because "Hey, I can say this, I'm a _______ myself!" They are the people who will steal a neighbor's newspaper or trash can; they're the porch pirates; they're the ones who don't tip servers and food delivery people. They're the ones who begin their restaurant order with "Gimme a _____"; they're the ones who take up two parking spots at the supermarket and then let their cart roll away freely. They're the ones who don't RSVP to a wedding invitation, or do reply in the affirmative and then don't show up. They click pens, rattle pocket change, and snap their gum.

They're the ones who steal from the charity collection bowls, or show up at food drives and load up on free chow, even though they are in no particular need.

And then when you wind up in the company of these people, you find that they have no grace, no warmth, no music, no comedy, no pet, and certainly very few friendships except with people of their own ilk - but they usually can't stand to be around them any more than you and I can!

They're sad and lonely people; even when they're with others, their hollow existences hold nothing. No one likes a mean person, not even other mean people.

So if you are the person who wronged my friend, keep wallowing. The good people always walk right past people like you, and miserable people sit by the wayside, jealous and looking for petty revenge.

If you're happy in life, that's the reward you get for being happy! And if you're miserable, you can always change, but you have to do it. The rest of us are too busy being happy to send you invitations.