Sore throat?

 LIFE: IT’S NOT. LIKE A GIRAFFE WITH A SORE THROAT

Maybe it’s a little warmer out than some would like and maybe the humidity is peaking a bit above the 50% mark...well it’s summer so remember this when your glasses fog over coming in from the cold....Let’s face it. This weather isn’t that bad....you could be a giraffe  with a sore throat.  

Well we’ll get to the giraffe thing in a minute,yet that’s not the whole “seeking peace and joy” message here so before we visit the zoo....let’s back up the little train that goes around it for a second.  

Did you notice the opening did two. Things  that are designed to discount your sense of  right here and right now?  This happens to us all the time and over time  the impact is as subtle as a marching band in a monastery.  

First i said not to complain because  there’s a different weather condition you  may be more annoyed with and then I said you should feel okay because  someone (okay a giraffe) could have it worse off than you.  

It’s important to point this out because we often lose our sense of the here and now when other folks pull us into the comparison  game.  There’s a comedy  act that starts with We were so. Poor  we had no carpet anywhere in. Our house.  We only had wood floors... The comedy partner says  You had floors?  The first comedian says yes but we had really crappy  shoes and the wood gave us splinters and blisters...of course the  second comedian says —You had feet?

You see the comparison game always discounts  the experience and what might be learned from it or what understanding. Might be shared by  trying to externally modify its meaning.  

Second  if we look at the comparison model and then keep looking for someone who has it worse off it increases the need and frequency. Of developing. The need to feel superior  to someone else.  It leads to sympathy sometimes and hurt rarely leads to sympathy’s stronger cousin—empathy.  

Okay psychology. Lesson over...let’s talk giraffes

They. Are the tallest  animals. On the ground/earth with  legs that. Are often six feet tall...They are so tall that their long, long, necks cannot reach the ground  so when they don’t get enough moisture from the vegetation  they gobblethey must bend their front legs in a very awkward manner in order to hit the watering hole.  The giraffe  doesn’t have to look around. To see how they look compared to. Others.  The spot pattern on each adult is like a human fingerprint, absolutely unique.  I guess  teen-age giraffes don’t have to text each other to see what everybody is wearing or listening to.... they aren’t going to be copying  anyone.  

Giraffes can run for miles. At 10 miles per hour and when they want to crank it up they tilt  the radar gun around  35mph.   Oh and if you are  of a certain  age and up in the night to use the bathroom and get annoyed at how little sleep you get (comparison warning)  these bad boys and girls gsleep standing up and sleep between 5 and 30 minutes a day.  

Oh and the giraffes have no choice they are pretty much always sticking their necks out—right?  

Well  to sum up... living an experience often means avoiding the comparison game.  Maybe we could channel our inner giraffe and be comfortable with our uniqueness and find some peace there.  Giraffes find there  nourishment  by sticking. Their neck out and  maybe we could  enhance the process of seeking  peace and joy by “sticking our neck out” or taking some risks and experimenting?

Okay that’s all from the zoo...