Please Don't Tap the Glass

Words can hurt. Especially when ugly opinions, full of lies, of you come back to you. Much like a dysfunctional boomerang that didn't quite make it back to the original thrower.

I try not to get into it too much here, but my family does tend to live in a bit of a fishbowl. We forget that sometimes. We swim around in our lives, minding our own business - then, BAM! It turns out there's eyes on us from everywhere, judging what we do.

Hubsy is the boss of a particular business branch. He has the say in what happens in his part of this business. There are higher ups not at this location, but for the most part - the buck stops with him.

In that mix, the kids & I are looked a lot, too. Even if we do our own thing, the clientele & some staff want us to show up to what they want us to. They want us to act like they want us to. Hubsy reminds them often of our individual personalities & talents - but we are expected to swim through hoops that we don't want to swim through.

The fish you see in that aquarium (whether it's yours, the one at the doctor's office, or the one at the restaurant) came from somewhere else. Those fish have been put there to entertain you. Those fish just want to go about their business, make their own friends, find their own place. Maybe the fake shipwreck isn't their favorite place. Maybe the fish really likes the fake coral reef. Don't expect the fish to go over to the boat for YOUR entertainment.

You start tapping the glass to see if you can get the fish to do what you want; coerce it to try to go where you want it to - because that's what YOU want to see.

The fish is trying to be happy settled in the plastic coral, but is quickly becoming agitated by tapping on the glass. Then, the watcher complains that the fish isn't doing anything, and then thinks the fish should be removed from the tank & either flushed or sent to another aquarium somewhere else.

I'm in that aquarium. So is my family. And we are being watched. Often. Or we are not being watched & listen to people assume we are not doing what they want us to do.

We are not here for other's entertainment. You can train me as well as you can train a fish.

So, just know that if you get a fish - enjoy the fish for what it is. Let it do it's thing. Just because you want the fish do swim in circles or swim through the boat, don't get upset if the fish just enjoys sitting in the plastic reef. Don't tap the glass thinking you are going to make it do something else. Would you really just flush it or send it to an aquarium or fishbowl somewhere else?

I'm not on a pedestal & I'm not here to entertain you. I'm here to use my talents & gifts the way I am called to do. OK, maybe it is to entertain you, but on my terms - not yours.

Think about that with celebrities, too. We look into their fishbowl lives & then tap on the glass when they don't entertain us the way we want them to.

So, I'm just asking right now:

Either come in & swim with us, or just walk away. Nothing for you here.

Thank you for your cooperation.