Stumbling toward 52

Birthday's always seem to trigger thoughts of where you have been and where you want to go.  I think, at least for me, that as you get older the "evaluation" of your life gets more intense and you try to get more out of it and you begin to prioritize it in an organizational manner.  I would think that would take place earlier in your life, but not so.  Shouldn't we be mastering "Il Dolce Far Niente" at this time in our lives?  I think it might be my new motto. :)  If only I could pronounce it.   As I heard the author of Eat, Pray, Love say, shouldn't we wake up every morning and say- "What can I do today to make myself happy"  Sounds very self serving, but if we really think about it we find that if we can produce that happiness, peace and satisfaction with life; we can make more positive things happen around us. 
I have one daughter who refuses to watch the news and television for that matter. She said it is full of negativity and she chooses not to bring that into her life .  Nothing wrong with that at this time in her life.  I think about how consumed we become over news items.  Kwame for example.  Should we care about him?  I became very wrapped up on that story, I don't think it was good for my blood pressure :0, but was it entertainment at his expense...probably.  But lessons are to be learned.  I always looked at it for the big picture as I do most things.  I see things for the fall out, not the original deed.  This is no different.  It's not about punishing him for what he feels is infidelity, it's about getting the city back on track and to do that you have to lay the ground work with what is acceptable behavior and what has consequences.  People have to learn how to behave better.... that has always been the one thing that puzzles me with people and the way they live.  I can't believe that we all don't know the difference between right and wrong.  This has been lost somewhere. Can we please find it?  This should be a basic human trait, like eating, sleeping, breathing then behaving.  No matter what your upbringing, and maybe that is the key word, you should have the basic ability to see right and wrong as a black and white area, not a grey area.  Bad behavior should not have a reward of any kind. I'm not talking about not having any fun, just think about it if for one second if it crosses your mind that maybe this is not a good thing to do or say.  Our society is continually rewarding bad behavior and until that stops good behavior will never rise to the top like it should.  So wake up everyday and declare " Il Dolce Far Niente" and "bee have"-it's really not that hard.