All About Me

Call it shorthand...the point is
that we make our own choices,
even if we choose to let someone
else get what he or she wants.
If we're somewhere or with someone
who "makes" us unhappy,
it's still our choice. Unless we are
locked up or something. Then it's
all about something else entirely.

When does it get to be all about me,
decisions and choices just mine?
The obvious answer is "never,"
since we're ever considering others
first, deferring to those we love or should
if we were better people, nicer than
we really are. The letter of the law
presents itself, demanding we obey,
select what others tell us is the Best,
and check the box then pat our backs for
doing what is Right. What would Jesus
do? What is the rule for this? Whose
feelings will I hurt if I don't decide
to do things just as I'm expected?
Long answer's different but
delicious in its way: it gets to be about me
right now. I choose this life, with all its
problems and its joys, releasing people
from control they thought they had,
expectations they've imposed.
Lord knows, I never met them anyway.


(c) Ellen Gillette, 2013