Dear Kitty,

I get the news through my phone. It’s the only way I can catch up on the happenings of the world and my local area. When it shows at 5 & 6pm on the television, we are usually on child meltdown avoidance or eating. When it shows again at 10pm, I am unconscious and drooling in a beauty sleep attempt.

One of the top stories today was “Neighbors Upset Over Abandoned Home”

A synopsis is a home was abandoned and the neighbors are mad because their well maintained, curb appeal prided neighborhood contains this home that is an eye sore.

The interview with one of the homeowners recorded him showing a limb from the tree on the abandoned property had fallen in his yard and he had to pull it into the property lines all on his own. He went on to complain about how the high grass and disrepair of the house reflects on their exclusive little neighborhood. It even showed the line of his mowed area compared to the almost 2 foot wall of grass on the unmaintained site.

I almost bawled like a baby at his pain and suffering. *sarcasm*

So many times in our lives we are focused on maintaining a public air of self maintenance. We primp and prune ourselves so that when others see us, they see a version of perfection. The one that has it all together.

Behind the “front door” of our lives is so often a different story. Cluttered, overrun with concerns, marriage problems, issues with kids, finances, etc. Yet as long as the outside looks good, we have pride.

Then someone moves into the neighborhood (so to speak) and their “yard” gets bad. Maybe they don’t have the equipment to get it maintained. Maybe they don’t know how. Maybe they have given up.

You are out trimming your spiral shaped bushes that serve no purpose other than giving you something to beautify beyond your front door and a bit of their life encroaches into yours. Concerned only with your own Home & Gardens value, you throw it back on them. You have enough to deal with. They can handle their own.

Maybe they have given up. Their “house” is abandoned.

Why are we so afraid of the disrepair of others? Why do we feel that it is a reflection of us?

The only reflection that is being seen is an individual so focused on appearances, that the effort belongs to someone else. What if he had just run his mower next door while he was attending his own knowing the house was abandoned? Is it really that important that your grass is greener on your side?

What if in our lives we extended our efforts to include helping those who don’t know how or have given up? What is the reflection then that others will see?

…and frankly…the grass of our lives is only greener when we take the time to water it.

Categories: August Diary Entry

Tags: being a reflection, grass isn't greener - it's just grass., helping others