A few thoughts

I am at fault for getting into political debates in public. This is something I felt deep down wasn't right, and I don't want to be a part of it. Now, I am in a pickle because I have thoughts I want to share, however, I don't want them to be viewed as "downing" the other side. So, I am hoping that my thoughts don't come off as disrespectful to either side. To be honest, it's not so much the one side or the other that offends me, it's the lack of respect that people share with their opinions. The blatant bullying that takes place when someone disagrees with your opinion. Let's be real for a minute and look at the fact. Sharing my opinion here or anywhere, is not going to change an opinion of someone that believes something different than me. So why would I do go out of my way to debate my beliefs, when they are mine. Right? Well, with the convenience of over sharing on Facebook and all those "statement posts" do nothing more than irritate people and to be brutally honest, it makes me dislike people sometimes whether I agree with what they are saying or not! I'm working on that. But, I find it hard not to take offense when people post things like "...blah blah blah, this is my belief and anyone that doesn't see the way I do, is an idiot and I don't want to be friends with them anyway". I find myself thinking, I don't agree with you, does that really mean you don't want to be my friend or does it mean that you are speaking tall talk and I should respect your opinion, even though it's stated in a completely ignorant way?

I have done some soul searching during this election. I have been raised to favor a specific political party and my views haven't changed much however, my mind has opened to the fact that life is NOT black and white. I may disagree with certain actions, but at the end of the day, these actions DO exist and there are people that it affects and furthermore, if I want to live to love others like Jesus loves me, it is my duty to lighten up a bit and see both sides. This got me curious as to whether I am really true to the same political party that I am registered. To be honest, I was a little apprehensive to find out. I didn't want to do my soul searching and then find out I have "changed parties" however, it was something I needed to know. I visited a great website, I will share it with you incase you want to visit it as well, I side with, I took the test and was pleased with my results. It does put me in to a different party, not the typical "left or right" side, but a party that is new to me.

This is getting more wordy that I anticipated and I haven't even gotten to my point...I just want to share one more thought before getting to my point: Don't be afraid to look into yourself and if you haven't, figure out what's important to you and then go from there.

During election time, it's the personal stories that clench my attention. In light of that, I will share my personal reflection. I want to put my house up for sale. I posted about the visit from my realtor, what I did not share, (perhaps because I am still trying to keep my hopes up since we won't be putting it up for sale for another 6 months), is that the realtor suggested a listing price of LESS THAN we bought the house for 8 years ago. Now, anyone can calculate, but just to put it in black and white, we bought our house after 9-11, our country had been at war and the economy had already taken a hit, but my house was sold for a price and we bought it. The housing market crashed right around 2008. I can look at the value of my home on a graph and it peaked a tiny bit in 2008 and then plummeted! Here we are, 2012, sssssslllllloooowwwwwllllyyyy climbing, but not where it needs to be and I am not the only homeowner that feels this somber reality. We are worse off than first time home buyers just starting out because we have to clean up the mess that our country has made and with that comes money out of our pocket. One more point is, there are TWO Presidents that were in office during this time, one that started a war and one that promised to END the war. From what I see, as home owners, we are far worse right now that ever before. Ponder.

Another example, this healthcare that is at the forefront. I was skeptical, but curious. If what was promised is true, my husband with his preexisting condition of end stage renal failure, should be covered. This should have been good news to me. He's been on Medicare since the transplant and per Medicare's specifications, he will be "kicked off" come December, which is his 3 year post transplant anniversary. It's interesting because he still will not be able to get on regular insurance, infact, he is going back on the specialized insurance that he was on last time around, which was 20+ years ago. Ironic, since we were promised things that are not coming true and that was what sold the supporters of the bill on the healthcare. Coverage for preexisting conditions.

I do NOT want to feed into the Debbie Downer, pessimist approach and I am not about to go into a rant about how awful this President is, because there is a bigger picture and as much as people would like to blame ONE person, blame can't be placed. I hate to break it to you, it's not Bush's fault, it's not Obama's fault. Presidential office is a very complicated position to be in, one I would never ever consider for myself, so I am not one to judge the job that's being done in office. I just found some irony in my life and wanted to share my perspective. Sharing here, helps me to organize my thoughts, as odd as that sounds!