The Irascible Chef

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families close by and far away, from IrascibleChef!

WARNING: Perspective Ahead! Don’t be discouraged there’s hope!

I had a conversation with an old friend the other day about the end of the world and how we’re basically, in the perfect storm, that IS the beginning of the end. But, is it really???

Well, that’s a happy thought!

Just like each of us is, in cold hard facts—dying, so is the world (unlike human life the world might have a billion years or so.) Only when we dwell on the end does it become overwhelming and unbearable.

Financial disaster that doesn’t seem solvable, without even considering or dealing with the pending Social Security or health care system disasters, which doesn’t even deal with global warming and food and resource shortages, which doesn’t deal with terrorism or world domination, and on and on.

Whee! That was a slippery slope!

Where does it stop—it doesn’t, NO OTHER TIME IN HISTORY WAS IT AS BAD AS IT IS NOW…

Right…

The caveman really had it goin’ on, no worries there!

Or maybe, it was better during the American Civil War, when the country broke into two, it’s own citizens took up arms against each other, 500,000 died, all this less than a 100 years after those same citizens took up arms to separate themselves from jolly old England, where countless people died.
Whee! That was even more fun!

World War 1—the entire modern world was on FIRE!
World War 2—the entire modern world was on FIRE! And there was extermination of entire ethnicities going on—HOLOCAUST!
Whee!

I’ll spare you the many tragic times of life throughout history—you get the point, don’t you?

It’s always the end of the world! It always seems like we’re on the cusp!

Not convinced yet? How about a little more perspective:
Presidents and Civil leaders being assassinated, oil shortages-lines of cars-odd and even days, Civil wars, world wars, millions of people killed, pollution we can’t breathe, etc Blah, blah, blah.

Remember, the television show, All in the Family, by Norman Lear?
Well, it took place during the early 70’s, the Era of the Vietnam War, Presidential scandal ending in resignation, oil embargo shortages, civil unrest, the cold war and nuclear proliferation, high unemployment, high mortgage rates. And it was about a hardworking blue collar bigot (Archie Bunker) and his sweet but obtuse submissive wife (Edith) and their grownup daughter (Gloria) and husband (Mike) that live together because the grownup children can’t afford to live on their own. Meathead, as Archie likes to call Mike, the son-in-law, is out of work because he’s going back to school to get a degree. Mike and Gloria are ultra-liberal and Archie is the complete opposite.

I watched this show as a little boy and I’m always reminded of this one particular shows storyline when people think that it’s the end of the world and it couldn’t possibly be worse.

Mike says he won’t have and bring up a child in this horrible world that we live in (all the things I explained above)—because it’s a world without hope and possibility. And I remember as this small child thinking, what if the child he doesn’t want to bring into the world is the child that has the answers to fix the world…

After all was said, worried about, and done—it wasn’t the end of the world. For me that show/lesson always puts things into perspective and maybe it might always seem like the end of the world when you’re sitting in the middle of it.

I say maybe it’s good that we’re in a down turn, maybe it’s good we don’t get everything we want—we can’t, we’re unable to get what we want. Maybe it’s good we have to sacrifice, not as an option, but as we have no other choice! That’s really what sacrifice is about isn’t it, shouldn’t it have to hurt in order for it to be a real sacrifice? Or is a sacrifice something that we can do without and we do?

Maybe it would be easier to conserve and be better citizens of the earth if we knew more about sacrifice and what it’s really about. Maybe we could live within our means, maybe we could pollute less, maybe use less of our natural resources, maybe we would waste less because everything would have more meaning, maybe…

I think about Christmas—who cares? I used to live for presents. Now it makes me nauseous. We can pretty much buy what we want for ourselves, so why do we go through this exercise in gluttony? Yes, we do it for the kids… Were we teach them that they can have anything they ask for. When I was a kid I didn’t get everything I asked for and was disappointed many times. But you know what, it helps me deal with disappointment when it comes in daily life—a skill many people struggle with these days. That’s pathetic!

Maybe we should be thankful for what we have. Maybe we shouldn’t feel so bad for not having everything—maybe there is value in wanting…

I’m looking forward to some real sacrifice, I’m looking forward to family life that centers around what’s really important—family! I’m looking forward to all of us caring enough not to be wasteful. I’m looking forward for us to come up with solutions to our global problems not bandages. I’m looking forward for dealing with what we Have no other choice except to deal with. I’m looking forward to us understanding the value for what we earn and realizing we can’t or shouldn’t always get what we want, and the I’m looking forward being thankful for what I’m lucky or blessed enough to have—with hope for things I can’t yet reach.

Don’t misinterpret what I wish for, I’m not looking forward to the pain and struggle we will have to endure before it gets better. I know I will survive either which way, I’m like a cockroach, I’m not going anywhere!
But for US for to survive as a society, as country, as the human race, as a world—We need to change, SACRIFICE, and learn from our past…

We can do it! Sometimes we need to step backwards to move forward, sometimes we need to sacrifice in order to grow…

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

—iChef PSA

Special thanks to my family, friends, and God…

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Other voices of clarity out there: (Thank you for being there!)

By Michelle Malkin Giving thanks for self-reliant Americans

by The Anchoress “Gratitude-giving” 2008

by MyCowardice The fallacy and impossibility of self-reliance…

by SkewRed Happy Thanksgiving!

by HotAir: Happy Thanksgiving! by Ed Morrissey

By Mark Epstein Why I’m Thankful this Holiday

By Michelle Malkin Giving thanks for self-reliant Americans

by David’sCommonSense Happy Thanksgiving

By Blackfive A Time for Giving Thanks

By Jules Crittenden Things To Be Thankful For In A Troubled World

By AllahPundit Hopenchange: Who’s up for a little hope and change? A new transmission from Mt. Olympus, replete with another Lincoln reference, of course. {The idea here is tell us how bad (in case we didn’t know it was bad) it is and then promise that the new administration (government) is the solution—so we know who to thank…}
Our Leader:

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