My life on the high wire.

THIS JUST IN!!!

When Happiness Doesn't Help

Author Barbara Ehrenreich says Americans cannot simply wish themselves into better conditions.
Not to be show offy or anything, but I already knew that. I could have gone on that radio show and told the rest of the world that it isn't a whole lot of help to a person suffering with a serious disease or other life changing circumstance to hear people tell us that all we need is a "more positive attitude."

Sometimes life just sucks and finally somebody said it on the radio (well, okay, so it was NPR) and just maybe all you lucky folks out there who used last year's sick days to go Christmas shopping for your big happy family will finally understand that for some of us life isn't so easy. Some of us struggle for what you take for granted - health, happiness, the warm embrace of your family. What's worse, some of us struggle fruitlessly.

I'll keep my crappy attitude, thank you very much. When life stops throwing lemons at me I'll stop puckering and smile a little more.

And, for those of you who didn't need any convincing, listen to the podcast anyway - during the show they arrive at some very interesting points about our society's tendency to stifle criticism and the socio-political ramifications of that...