My 27 years on this planet has provided me enough experience with other females to safely say we are all inherently bitches. In high school there are cliques. In the workforce there are snobs. The cattiness and judgments from other females will never cease no matter how old you get. I had accepted that a long time ago and moved on. That was, however, until I joined the ranks of motherhood and Army wives. Every move, every outfit, what you drive, the parties you host are all scrutinized so severely it's maddening. Competition for the best dressed and well rounded children is out of control. "My child is 2 years old, plays the cello, and is fluent in 8 languages." Good for you, my 3 year old pooped on the stairs and told me he didn't know where his pants were because he just took a dump. Then added "Mom, you're so annoying."
I've been bottling up my thoughts and emotions about the "keeping up with the Joneses" attitude for a while now. At one point in time I was very swept up and hoping to win the retarded Army wife Olympics or something. Then one day I finally took a step back to look at the bigger picture.
Why is it that men never gossip? What makes men's relationships last with ne'er a snag of emotional distress? First of all, I'm thoroughly convinced that males are not as complex as females. Mostly, though it is their distaste for bullshit. Oh, and they hate wasting time. Not women. We love being fake. We crave head games. We lust for some good ol' fashion estrogen competition. As long as it's not right out in the open. It has to be a she said, she did, she wore kind of thing. Never a punch-each-other-in-the face followed by a beer together. It doesn't matter that the economy is disintegrating, that there is world-wide natural disasters, or that poverty, disease, and famine are killing people in third world countries while we get ticked because the McDonald's employee gave me BBQ instead of buffalo sauce. What matters is that bitch didn't come to my kid's birthday party so I'm not going to hers. That's right. I said it.
With almost 7 billion people on Earth I've been consumed by one small group of people. All my time and energy was concentrated on outdoing other women. I am 100% positive that any female reading this can not only relate, but is in a similar situation. The question is, what do we do now? Keep thirsting for drama and defamation...or drop the crap? How about we remember that life is short?! We are NOT guaranteed tomorrow! Will you spend today hating a fellow mom for looking better at the last PTA meeting? Or will you quit the bitterness and ask her where she got her shoes? She's probably the coolest woman alive and was only able to get out of the house once a month for that meeting. She just didn't want to spend that precious, child-free hour in the same stretchy pants she wears everyday to clean, cook, and change diapers in.
From this moment on I challenge every female who reads this. Stop wasting your life worrying about what other people might be saying. Forget about anyone who makes you feel less than amazing. Don't let SHE who angers you control you! Relish your time here with true friends and beloved family!
"Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned." ~Buddha
