Get Real!!

I have a frustration!!

Nothing unusual really ha ha.

But it revolves around people who aren't real.  People who pretend to be something their not, for whatever reason, status, job, church, or friends.  They just aren't real.

Someone told me once that I'm too real.  That people are intimidated by the fact that I don't hide myself. I am open about my mistakes, I'm not afraid to say "oops stuffed that one up".  But please it doesn't mean that I'm not embarrassed or I don't care.  Some mistakes that I make, even though they seem so small have haunted me for years. 

I remember one time (I feel like I should follow this with "at band camp", but I'll refrain) but I was in a prayer meeting and they were praying for a lady who was dying of cancer, I interrupted and said "you know if she had more faith she would probably live" cringe worthy right?  I had only been a Christian for a couple of months and been watching a lot of tv evangelists.  I'm mortified that I said and believed such a thing.  And can only imagine what all the other people in the room thought.  But I know that if they were good Christians they would have forgiven my naivity and moved on.  It's just me that is still mortified.

But what really irritates me is when people aren't real, when people feel the need to pretend they are something they are not.  I call them the Joneses plus some.  They are the people who not only want to keep up with the Jonses but outdo them also.  They are the people that are loaned up to their eyeballs, but wont give up on that lifestyle no matter how much debt they are in rather than admit that next week they may just have to file for bankruptcy.  They are the people who are down to their last $50 and still insist on paying, or the ones that sit and tell us about how much they are earning, and who in the who they know and hang out with, and then ask us to pay.

I think that's why I have always found myself getting along better with people who society says are less.  They are real! 

We are having all sorts of issues with one of our neighbours at the moment.  The man will come out and scream and shout, swearing and throwing things at the fence in a tantrum, because he doesn't like the noise we are making.  He has called the council so many times about various poultry that we have owned.  I admit that we aren't the quietest of neighbours, but only during the day.  Of a night time my boys are in bed by 9pm, they are inside by 6pm.  The drums aren't allowed to be played after 7pm.  And not before 10am.  So really he is complaining over nothing.  He is just a sook.  Yet we found a new home for our duck, because she was too noisy for him, I thought seriously about stopping my son from playing the drums because he considered that to be too loud, he even rang the police about them!!

But then I came to the conclusion of stuff it!  My boys could be out there robbing old ladies, taking drugs and impregnating teenage girls, instead one is at home learning a skill that will not only bring great pleasure in his life, but possibly be a career for him.

Yet the neighbour in question, comes home at 10pm, bangs around in his shed.  He revs his car right next to our bedroom window at 4.30am.  He screams and carries on at his wife, because he can't find his sunglasses or that the garage door doesn't open properly.  His dogs bark all day and all night.  Yet we have never complained, we have never said a thing.

And this being quiet has come to much complaints from my hubby who would like to go and kick a panel out of the fence when he is going off, and punch the neighbour in the nose.  But I wont allow that. 

But it's this sort of thing that frustrates me, people who aren't real, people who don't stop and take a look at themselves before they carry on.  We never rang the council or police, because we knew we were noisy people and didn't want to blame somebody else for being noisy, even though ours is during the day and not at night. 

We don't have credit cards or loans, we don't have debts hanging over our heads and if we can't afford something then we don't buy it.  We don't flash our money around.  We dont' complain that we don't have any, but we refuse to be super flashy either.  The last thing that I want to be, is someone who is false or pretending to be something I'm not.  I don't believe in struggling, or remember what I've told who so I can keep my story straight.

That doesn't mean we shouldn't always try to better ourselves, it doesn't mean that we shouldn't stretch and change.  But it does mean that we should be real with who we are.  If our kids are pissing us off, it's ok to say that, rather than pretending we have it all together and our children are being angels all the time, except when they grow horns, which we hide.  We can be real about the fact that we can't go out for a girls night out because we are broke, rather than coming up with some stupid excuse about leaving our purse at home and can someone pay for us, or putting it on an already stretched credit card. 

Believe me when I say, people who care if you drive the latest car, live in the fanciest suburb, or have the latest gadgets are people who are pretending just like you!!  Of have way more money and can afford that lifestyle.  Life isn't a competition, we don't have to pretend.  Until just recently, when the tax cheque came in (I love tax time), we were living on a shockingly broken, mismatched, ugly looking couch, with this big arse ugly wall unit with an old not even digital tv.  Believe me it was really nice to get a new lounge suite, tv and wall unit.  But let me tell you something else.  We waited until we could afford to buy it outright.  I didn't care what people thought of my furniture, they didn't have to come around.  Because my real friends, they didn't come for the furniture, they came for me and my family!

So if you are hanging around people who care about your material world, are they really your friends? I mean what happens when you stop flashing the money? Will they still be there?

I guess it's the same for those girls who are flashing their girl parts, would the boys still be there if you stopped? 

If not then maybe you need to reassess who you are friends with.

Love you all

Sam
xxx