A Boxer at Rest

I once believed that unconditional love was key to being a good parent. I worked hard at the job, hoping that my love would help my child to grow up well adjusted and happy. I learned the hard way that love isn’t always enough.  Early Signs What initially appeared as confidence slowly morphed into a need for control and praise. Occasional selfishness turned into a pattern of manipulation and emotional pressure. Before long I was second-guessing every choice I made, wondering what I did wrong. I hoped it was just a phase.  Facing Reality It wasn't just a phase. It was how things would be. The more I tried, the more I saw entitlement and cruelty. Even years after emancipation, I was expected to bail them out of their self-inflicted difficulties. I walked on eggshells, trying to avoid angry outbursts. No matter what I did, things didn't and wouldn’t change.  I chose to step back from the relationship. I chose peace.  Choosing to Walk Away Walking away was hard. Some wo...

W hen I was in the workforce, I would hear coworkers complain regularly about how certain people seemed to be getting an unfair advantage in the workplace. Complaints could be anything from "so-in-so gets better hours, better wages, better assignments, better promotions, better treatment, etc., at work than I do .” The “I,” in that rant, of course, would be the person doing the complaining. Other coworkers would quickly take the opportunity to jump on the bandwagon to bemoan how they too were receiving unfair treatment in these and other areas. I wasn’t especially interested in joining any bitch brigade, so I would purposefully ignore the complainers and direct my full attention to doing my job in the best way I knew how. I adopted the attitude of "How others were being rewarded for their efforts was really nothing to me." All that mattered to me was that I was performing my assignments as professionally as possible and collecting the previously agreed upon wages. ...