Pet Peeves

On the 'one 4 girls' blog that I'm a part of...my sister told us all it was 'pet peeves' month and we had to write down 3 pet peeves...it got me thinking about what peeved me...so I'm going to admit two of my personal pet 'peeves'...I really struggle with 'cheesiness' and just plain pretending to be something you're not...it grates on me! A nicer way to put it may be I really don't appreciate it when people tend to be completely insincere. I think sincerity is one of the most admirable qualities in a person. I'm not talking about the person who is graceful and courteous and has the outward actions of sincerity...I'm talking about the one that is TRULY sincere...whether it comes with the outward package or not. Often I find it doesn't...my sister-in-law, Emma, is one of these...I think she'd be the first one to say that she is not necessarily good at saying things 'gracefully' BUT you can always count on her being sincere. She'll always be honest and let you know if she's struggling with something, rather than pretend that nothing is wrong...I've always appreciated that about her, I find it admirable. I struggle with a culture that has people believing there are certain things that 'should' be said in a certain moment...or because being courteous, gracious or polite comes more from a sense of duty than a feeling of sincerity! If there is one thing I've learnt from my dysfunctional childhood...is that it's so easy to discern when someone is just being polite but completely insincere...its one of those transparent things. I think we all know when someone is just saying something to be polite as opposed to being sincere...it's kinda like the 'how are you?' but not really wanting to know how that person is really doing...I think we all do this because it's so ingrained in our culture. I'm a bit of a reality girl, I like to live in reality and be realistic about life...I like to admit when things are hard and also acknowledge when they're good...I think mothers/people in general that go around 'pretending' and living in a facade of what motherhood and family life is 'supposed' to be like, according to what culture or society says it should be, bring a HUGE disservice to themselves with the pressure they put on themselves. I also find that these people, to feel good about themselves...are constantly in a state of trying to be better than others...rather than just sitting down and enjoying life WITH others!...I think it's sad...I personally couldn't live like that...I'd literally be declared insane and have to be put away! As for cheesiness...that just plain makes me cringe inside...and then after cringing burst out laughing...for all intentional purposes...because I have such an issue with this I tend not to 'talk' much about those things close to my heart or those things that are personal to me...and often resort to joking. You can judge me all you like, but my personal opinion is that I think that a good laugh can be just as good a therapy if not better than living in a constant state of DENIAL! (yes I have come across those that think living in ignorance really is bliss!)