Aesop

When I was little my mom read to me from a book of Aesop's fables. Aesop was a writer who told stories with a moral lesson. One story in particular always sticks out in my mind because it is one lesson I can't ever seem to master.

The story is called the Man, the Boy, and the Donkey. It is about a man and his grandson who are taking their donkey to show at the local fair. At first they are walking along with the donkey, then another traveler comes along and tells them they are stupid for walking when they could ride the donkey and get there faster. So they hop on and continue for a bit. Another person tells them they should be ashamed of their animal cruelty. So the man gets off and let's his grandson ride. Soon another person tells them that the boy is a spoiled brat for making his poor old grandfather walk. So the boy gets off and lets his grandfather ride for a bit. Of course then someone else accuses the grandfather of being selfish for making the boy walk. Frustrated beyond belief at this point, the man and his grandfather stop and cut a long pole from a tree. They tie the donkey to it by it's legs, put the pole on their shoulders, and carry the donkey upside down. With grim determination they ignore everyone and get that donkey to the fair! The moral of this story is you can't please the world so you might as well please yourself. This is the lesson I struggle with. I care about what other people think. People are social creatures. We base our sense of reality and perception of ourselves and sanity by what other people tell us. It's really hard to learn to not care and not to trust people. I don't want to live like that. I was not raised around very much diversity. I get taken advantage of because of my ignorance, thinking that other people want what I want or what's best for them. The reality is human beings are insane and have no idea what they want or what is good for them other than they want to be left alone to further devolve the world and civilization. We should do the best we can with what we have and just learn to be happy with that. But as an empath and a loner I don't know what makes me happy, I just know I'm not happy when those around me aren't at their best.

The best thing I know to take from Aesop's fable is that all people are different. Not everyone knows everything. I encourage you to keep this in mind when using this site. Everyone gives advice but you are the one who should be able to see a common thread of wisdom in all those posts. You yourself are capable of knowing, loving, and hating yourself more than any other person has the power to do. Remember that.

Blessed be our mothers and fathers for forgiving us even when they do not understand.