Thursday, June 26, 2014

Finish the Sentence Friday #8

I haven’t participated in Finish the Sentence Friday in a while mostly because the subjects just haven’t “spoken” to me but this week’s did.  I’m glad too since I just found out that they are taking a break for July.   

The one thing I’ll never compromise on is……… 

This sentence seems to have a different ending at different ages and, in the end, I find myself compromising on most of those things.   

“I will always do something for a living that is exciting and makes me happy” – There came a time when responsibilities reared their heads and taking a good, stable job became the priority over excitement. 

“I will never feed my kids junk food” (from pre-parent days, of course) – Any parent who says that they actually stick to this one and never gives their kid a sugary treat is either a liar or a bloody saint.   

“I will always be the parent who bakes, does crafts, patiently sits with her kids as they do their homework while a delicious, healthy dinner is simmering on the stove; in other words the perfect mom” – Ha!  Boy was there compromise there!  After being gone eleven hours a day five days a week, this poor mom is pooped.  I’ve got two great kids who seem to love me though so I at least get an “A” for effort.  

“I will always be completely honest.  I’ll never lie to anyone” – Now, most of the time that is true of me but I’d be lying now if I said that I’ve never told a little white lie.  Is there anybody who has never said that a friend’s new outfit/haircut was nice, when they really didn’t so, just to not hurt their feelings?  Have you ever said that you forgot to call someone back or “got busy” when, really, you just didn’t feel like talking and didn’t want them to take it personally?  Even the most honest of us makes the occasional compromise with the best of intentions. 

See, life is all about compromise.  I can’t think of one thing that I can righteously say I would NEVER compromise on and you can’t either.  As a matter of fact, the word “never” should be obliterated from the English language.   

Never say “never”! 

You might say, but Kathy I would never hurt or kill someone.  Really?  If somebody was physically threatening or hurting your family, you wouldn’t fight back and take that sucker out?  Of course you would.   Mama Bear would certainly come out in me if somebody was hurting my kids and I’m one of the most peace-loving people around.   You’d never steal?  If you or your family were starving, you wouldn’t steal food?  Of course you would.  We all would.  The difference between the “good” people and the “bad” people is what has to happen for you to make those compromises. 

Of course not all compromises are born of such dire circumstances.  Some are as simple as ordering pizza when you know you should be grilling that chicken in your fridge and serving it with a nice salad but you’re just too tired to do anything other than dial the pizzeria phone number. 

Not all compromise is bad.  The ability to bend and see a different way of doing things can be a good thing.  Those who are so rigid that they can’t fathom a change in how they think and do things are missing out on so much in life.   They miss out on understanding a different point of view.  They miss out on relationships that could enrich their lives.  They miss opportunities.  I try hard to not be that kind of person.  Now that is something I won't compromise on!


This picture has nothing to do with the subject matter; I'm just proud of The Girl's artwork :)

Kathy





20 comments:

  1. Definitely love your take on this and will say that I think we all do compromise on some of the basic and fundamental things in life in general and you pretty much summed up many of the ones that I have and still compromise daily on. Thanks for joining us this week and hope you will again when we return now, too! :)

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    1. Thanks Janine! I'm sure that I will return. I love to see how everyone handles the prompts in their own unique ways.

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  2. Hi Kathy: I agree wholeheartedly with your post, and basically wrote about the same concept (although not as eloquently as you!). And I like The Girl's artwork as well!

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    1. Thank you Anna, that's really nice of you! I'm glad that I'm not the only one who went in that direction :)

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  3. I agree that being rigid is never a good thing, and we all need to have open minds. #FTSF

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    1. Just imagine how much you would miss if you couldn't bend!

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  4. I like what you said about compromise - sometimes you miss out on great opportunities if you aren't willing to bend your own rules a bit. That's definitely something I've worked on over the years!

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    1. Rules are a good thing but they can't be so rigid that you walk past great things. Thanks for stopping by :)

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  5. You're so right about the never say never part and compromises. I would totally steal food if my son were hungry and I couldn't feed him any other way. And yes, I'd defend him no matter what. Your girl's artwork is incredible!!

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    1. "Never" is definitely a big word that we should rarely use, if ever at all. It's one that tends to come back and bite us in the butt.

      I love my daughter's artwork and try to encourage her all that I can :)

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  6. You and I are on the same page with this one- I couldn't agree more! Glad you linked up with us before our big break!

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    1. Thanks Stephanie! I'm glad that I linked up too; it was a thought provoking topic.

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  7. Loved your take, Kathy
    Gotta be flexible cause we are living amongst many personalities :)

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    1. Yep, can't make new friends if you're too busy judging others for having different ideas.

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  8. Yeah, I feel the same way. I saw this sentence and thought…nothing. My mom always said, "Never say, 'never.'" and I say the same to my kids.

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  9. How sad it would be to miss out on opportunities that could enrich your life if you chose not to bend, not to compromise on something. Can't agree with you more Kathy.

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    1. Thanks Kelly and thank you for stopping by :)

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  10. Oh, please don't try to eliminate words from the English language, especially not good, strong words like "never."

    There are times when you should give in to others for the sake of peace, but to compromise your principles? I don't know if that's totally wise. I love having stability and something I can stick to and be just a little hard-headed about. Maybe it's because I've always been the odd one out in my family, but I really hate compromising, especially when other people pressure me to do so. Sometimes you have to stand up for yourself even when everyone else is different. I guess what I'm trying to say is: don't compromise just to do what everyone else is doing.

    Sorry, I hope this doesn't sound like a rant. Your post was cleverly done, and I did enjoy it.

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    1. No worries, it's not a rant at all. I totally agree that there are some things that shouldn't be compromised just because it's easier or what everyone else is doing. Those are always the wrong reasons for compromise.

      I think, really, that my point of "never say never" is that a lot of us use the word "never" far too easily when it is a strong, powerful word that doesn't apply to so many of the situations that we apply it to.

      Thanks for reading and taking time to leave such well thought-out comment.

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