Absurd

That's today's writing prompt from over at Sunday Scribblings, and I'm really not sure what to write about it.

I could air grievances based on the random absurdities I constantly find my life bombarded with. It would be cathartic. But I don't know if that's the right way to do things.

So what if I just take a look at myself and examine my own expectations and actions. What is it that I bring upon myself that falls under the category of absurd?

I have unrealistic expectations. I expect myself to be able to help the people around me no matter the situation they find themselves in. Ever since college, there have seemed to be seasons in my life when I become a magnet for people with problems. It's because I'm slow to speak but quick to listen.

For awhile, I believed that I could parlay that into a successful career as some sort of counselor or therapist. But when it came to giving advice, as therapists must often do, I felt like I was falling short. I began getting frustrated.

It wasn't necessarily because my advice was bad. To me, good advice just comes from having good common sense, something that is seriously lacking in a great majority of the people. The frustration came when people would ask for advice but then wouldn't listen. Those people would find themselves in the same situation over and over again. I'm not trying to be conceited here. I don't want you to think that I think so highly of myself that everyone should follow my stellar advice and then their lives would be problem free. It's just that, if you don't want to hear the advice that someone is giving you, then don't ask for it in the first place.

At some point, I need to realize just how absurd it is for me to expect to change people's lives when they don't want to change themselves. It's not up to me. At some point, I need to realize how absurd it is for me to get involved in other people's lives. How involved I am is definitely up to me.

I disconnect myself from so much. And it's because I get disappointed in people. When you get close to someone, you open yourself up and make yourself vulnerable. You set yourself up for that disappointment. It's absurd to think that those people you call friends will never let you down.

It's absurd to believe that anyone an your life is going to make zero mistakes. People will let you down: family, friends, significant others, co-workers, ministers, rodeo clowns... they're all just human. They're gonna screw up from time to time.

So this next part is as much for myself as it is for anyone reading. Have a little faith. Even though the people in your life have let you down before, get over it. Learn to love them anyway. Learn to love their flaws. Learn to help pick them up and dust them off. Learn to help them learn, because they may not even know what mistake they made. And then, learn to get over it again, because it doesn't matter who they are to you or how much they mean, they will let you down again. It's inevitable. It's absurd to think they won't.