Why do we classify people in different social categories?

It is interesting how we conduct ourselves differently in different social situations. When we are with people we trust or feel equal too, we are confident and sometimes even cocky. When we are with people that we feel inferior too we may be shy and quiet. When we are with people we feel superior too, for whatever reason, we may actually act superior, perhaps by ignoring them or putting down their ideas. What makes us feel like we are more or less, depending on who we are with?

Most of us hide those feelings of inferiority or superiority well but some do not. It always irritates me to be with someone who treats me like a good friend and an equal if we are alone, but treats me as an inferior if there is someone else present that they feel is higher on the social totem pole. We here in the south call that being two faced. It is a condition that affects a lot of people.

Really, are any of us superior or inferior to other people? From my experience we are all superior in some ways and inferior in others. We have our strengths and our faults. Even the dumbest among us can still teach us something and even the smartest can be wrong. I wish that we could just accept everyone as a unique person and combine all of our talents for the good of everyone. So much of our energy and creativeness is wasted on trying to impress, or afraid of being ridiculed. Maybe we all just need to grow up and realize that we are only one of more than 6 billion people on this earth. It is doubtful that we are either better or worse than the majority.

A bone barometer rarely fails in weather predictions

I am curious about something. As we age we seem to develop a built in weather forecaster in our bones. I can personally vouch for this phenomenon. Right before a rain or change in the weather my lower back, and other parts as well, start aching. The severity of the pain depends upon the severity of the weather. Sometimes I feel like I have been beaten and have bruising, and even fever in my joints. I can’t figure out how the weather can affect my insides. Consider this; When rain is in the forecast the air gets heavier and more humid. I understand that, but how can it affect my bones and muscles? They are buried under my skin and flesh, which are already moist, so the humidity shouldn’t have any affect. I can’t believe that the air is heavy enough to put sufficient pressure to cause pain on a body that has always worked hard for its bread and butter. I could understand if the weather affected my skin, but penetrating to my very bones is impossible to believe, except that I have the proof in the pain I feel.

Another curiosity that I have noticed is that wild animals know when the weather is going to get bad. Right before a winter storm you will see scores of animals out trying to find food to tide them over. They too seem to have built in barometers. I wonder if their bones ache before a storm too………..

The way to the top is not by walking on the feelings of others

I often wonder why so many people seem to think that the way to climb the social and career ladders is by putting down, and walking over other people. Have you ever spent time with someone that is always full of negativity? Everything you say they pop up and demean it, and you also. You say good morning and they find something wrong with it. You have an idea and they tell you how much it sucks. You tell an experience that you are proud of, and they grin knowingly and sneeringly around to make sure everyone knows that your story sucks as much as you do.  I know someone like that and surprisingly too many people go along with him; I think mostly to keep him from attacking them with his negativity, which of course he does anyway. Sometimes I lose patience with people like that. I get tired of hearing how my ideas and everyone else’s ideas suck. It seems weird to me that people that know all the answers seem to have so much trouble in their own lives. I often wonder if people like that realize what they are like and how they come across to others.

For those people let me say this. Making other people smaller certainly does not make you bigger. Demeaning others does not make you more important. You are who and what you are; be happy with yourself, and if you are not happy, then fix it! I cannot help but despise these people, because they are the anchors that hold so many people back. They create insecurity and malcontent. Often they are rabble rousers that make ordinarily peaceful people to become discontented. Usually this is because of what I said earlier, it is natural to most people to avoid trouble, so they will string along with the negative ones to keep his sharp words against other people than themselves. None of us know all the answers, but all of us, big or small, are unique. We all know SOME of the answers, even if we don't know ALL of them. I promise you that the lowest among us has answers to something that the negative ones do not. We can all learn from each other and what I have learned is to try to ignore the ones that try to make their path easier by walking on others. Well, I will ignore them as long as I can, and then I will be saying some negative words of my own. Hmmmm, I may be falling into their trap. Maybe spreading their bad attitude is what they desire.......