Wha! Wha! Wha!

Wha! Wha! Wha!, gripe and moan.

Have you ever stopped and noticed that we are a world of whiny complainers that never seem satisfied? What is that? And why is that? I have my theory..

To start with, I will admit that I, also, am a whiner. I say I want something, and when I get it, I whine for something else, or complain about the thing I asked for. Let’s take the recent weather conditions everyone, including me are griping about.

Everywhere you look, we are moaning and groaning about wind advisories, snow fall, icy temperatures. But wasn’t it just a couple weeks ago that everyone complained we were too warm and we wanted a white Christmas and New Year? Florida, I am not talking about you. We all know that if temperatures go below 75, you break out the parkas. So this arctic wave we are having, really does offend your sensibilities. I get it.

I am talking about the rest of us. We, for the most part, all understand that winter means cold, snow days with icy roads, and winds that chill you to the bone. And yet we complain when the season actually delivers. The winter weather is not a new event, that we have never experienced, like it is some strange phenomenon. It is not strange, nor should it surprise us.

I watched the news this morning, and the plethora of people in different states giving commentary, on the snow we got last night. One woman was sent to Oklahoma City to broadcast from there, and she went on and on about the road conditions, the snow on the ground, and the fact that no one was on the roads. Well, isn’t she quite the journalist? First, it was before the sun came up, so yes, everyone is warm and in bed still, after all it is a Saturday morning. But what was really amusing, was her commentary, considering the state she was in. Trust me, Oklahomans are familiar with winter. They have them every year. They know what snow is and that here in the midwest, we have super unpredictable weather.

What strikes me as funny, is the fact that a few weeks ago, the media was going on and on about it being to warm a winter for all of us. They theorized day in and day out about the cause. And no it’s not global warming or anything of the sort. Those are stupid arguments. Weather is cyclical and has patterns. Some events happen every twenty years, fifty years, and even hundred years. The problem is, that we all seem to have the memory span of about 10 minutes. I specifically remember, even as a child having this kind of a winter, where we got snowed in, in New Jersey. When I say snowed in, I mean snow that was door lintel high. You had to dig out. Those event don’t happen every year, but they do happen in their regular cycles.

So why do we want one thing, get it, and are not satisfied, so we now want something else? I think a lot of it is, that we are spoiled. We have come so far technologically, in life, and in comfort, that we think the universe should control itself and not go off track. People have this entitlement syndrome, where we believe we have the right to demand something, or to expect something, and get it just as we envision, and when we envision. Nature, will not be ordered. It is chaos, in raw form. Sure sometimes it seems to be cooperative, but more times than not it does its thing, without regard for the peons that live in it.

I am one, of these peons. I don’t point the finger, that I don’t first point at the person in the mirror. I complained plenty that it was too warm for winter. I walked around in shorts, just two days ago, while enjoying the ability to have doors and windows open, as I whined about wanting snow. Well people, here it is. And guess what? I am now grumbling, that I am cold, that I hate when I get out of the shower, and it feels like it’s freezing. It isn’t. It’s the same temperature in the bathroom as in the rest of the house, and the same temperature as it has been inside for days on end. But I need something to complain about, don’t I?

That is just one example. We and I have the same actions and reaction on everything. A sweater is purchased for an outfit. It arrives and it doesn’t match the exact color of the shoes. Oh my word! What a catastrophe. So we bellyache about it and that the color on the screen looked different.

You men are not immune. The shoes and sweater thing was a more personal example, but you all have your quirks too. You want to watch your team's game. You didn’t have to work, so you got your wish. You watch the game, and shockingly, you gripe about every other play, you murmur each time, the plays don’t pan out how you want them too. If your team loses, then you complain that you should have watched something else, or been doing something else.

This spoiled behavior is not just for the physical things, the weather, entertainment, we seem to have the same pattern for all things. I think we all forget, that somewhere in this vast planet, there are people, who don’t have a television to watch, can’t afford a sweater and a pair of shoes, if either at all. We don’t think about the fact, that while we are getting slammed by old man winter, it is needed. We need the snow to water the plants and trees. We need the frigid temperatures, to kill off all the microscopic things that want to kill us or make us uncomfortable. I’m thinking ticks, fleas and our favorite nuisance, the mosquito. In milder years, we are overrun and infested with these varmints. Oh and yes, we complain about that, then too.

Too much rain, not enough, too cold or not cold enough, too big or not big enough, too hard or not hard enough, we snivel at all of it. I think it is part of the human condition, but that is unfortunate. When was the last time any of us was content, wholly content.

We are content in part, yes. I am content in my heart and life in general, but I nitpick the things in it and have at them, caterwauling about what I didn’t get or experience after I got what I “did” think I wanted. I believe, more likely than not, that we misunderstand what we think we might want. We think whatever it is will make us content, or happy, when it really, just won’t.

I for one, just want to appreciate whatever comes as it comes. But in fact I want it in a particular way, and when, and life just won’t cower to my orders. I think that is a good thing. So many times, something I ordain is not a good thing for me to begin with. I am grateful when I do realize that I just might have been spared something, in my arrogant ignorance.

I sit here, writing this and I begin to think about how utterly arrogant it is for me to complain about anything. There are so many, who have far less than I, so many that suffer far worse than this stream of climate currents, that we are having. I am a fool. Instead of being content with each moment, which is not promised, it is gifted, I poo poo about the what ifs, on the I wish it could have’s or be’s. This is all because I am spoiled into thinking the proverbial grass will be greener on the other side of that fence. And it isn’t. It is all green, in varying shades. I should be enthralled that I can see the green at all, that it offers its beauty and comfort under my feet, remembering that there is a person, somewhere, that may never have even seen, green grass.

That is spoiled and entitled. And I am the worser for it. I want to live grateful for each moment, for each storm, snowflake, drop of rain or thing I receive in this life. I want to appreciate that I am not missing the beauty of this chaos we call life. Most of all, I want to remember, that with each disappointment in this arrogance of mine, that there is someone that wishes they could have it as bad as I do. I think, instead of grousing, I’ll go sit in front of the nice warm fire, thankful that I can look at the beautiful flames, warming my toes, while I watch the weather do what is in its nature, to be the seasonal change, the planet and all its living creatures need. I’ll be grateful for this arctic storm.