MUSINGS and other writing by Mark Kolke

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I FELL OFF MY MOOD SWING
 
Sunday, July 3, 2022
 
 
 
Live and let live, live and let die – this column is not a play on words from a James Bond movie title, but it could be …
 
 
 
I’ve read these words many times – expressed in many ways. I bet you have too.
 
 
 
It concerns people talking about, or writing about, their spiritual journey.
 
 
 
Before you yawn or frown, hear me out.
 
 
 
In the end, we could argue that our lives are short, ineffectual, and of little lasting value – and still, we all cherish life, cling to every element of our lives that might last, live beyond us, or prove valuable to someone other than to ourselves.
 
 
 
Some people mix these sentiments with faiths, religions, dogmas and different fog-like views.
 
 
 
I’m not suggesting they are deranged, unhinged, or in any fashion not fine people.
 
 
 
It’s just that I don’t see it, don’t feel it, and I don’t believe it.
 
 
 
And I don’t quarrel with any of them, and though I don’t see any supporting facts or logic, I respect believers’ rights to believe. As to non-believer rights, I don’t profess any entitlement to be careless or cavalier in how I live my life. I react badly when anyone tells me how to live mine.
 
 
 
And we have some degree of something (probably not far removed from PTSD) on a society-wide basis from COVID-19. But now we are rolling into a new drama. This war over Ukraine’s territory by Putin is drawing the world into an inflation/disruption/logistical chaos vortex that should make us all question the wisdom of being interconnected, global, and interdependent …
 
 
 
So, what do we do?
 
 
 
Moods rise and fall like a sine-wave on a graph – so many reasons for feeling good, feeling the blahs, and coasting in neutral. Nobody should expect to be riding high all the time unless they take unsupervised mind-altering meds …
 
 
 
Moods seem so connected to physical well-being and mental health, yet we often attribute the mood swings we fell off to someone else’s fault.
 
 
 
We get that.
 
 
 
We know that a boss’s tirade is more about the boss than the person on the receiving end.
 
 
 
We know the poverty = pain and suffering equation should excuse their mood.
 
 
 
So too, innocent citizens of a country being bombarded by ruthless ambitions and deadly weapons of a despot run amok.
 
 
 
Post-Canada Day, are we changing the world or simply continuing a live and let die approach?
 

 


 
 

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