Sometimes when I'm sitting at home and enjoying some fine cheeba, I like to sit down and watch The Ricky Gervais Show. For those of you not in the know, the show centers around the philosophy of the world's most brilliant idiot, Karl Pilkington.
Recently I was watching this and discovered that Karl came to the realization that problems are not simply abstract ideas, but rather a bizarre manifestation of this mysterious thing we call life.
Everyone has a problem hole in their head. And life's problems will fill your problem hole.
Some problems are little, like minor annoyances: you have a runny nose, your wife's breasts have begun to sag, you didn't realize that you mismatched the color of your socks before leaving the house, etc.
Other problems are big. You have no heating in the winter. You live some place where a lion might eat you. Your entire family hasn't had anything to eat in days.
When you have big problems, there's no more room in your problem hole for little problems. But if you don't have big problems, your problem hole is empty, and little problems can make their way in.
That's when I realized something. One can use a pejorative term like "white trash", to describe an entire group of people. The fairness of using such a term is not what I'm interested in here. However, in trying to classify and define who would be included in this group and who would not, could be summed up with the Karl Pilkington Theory of Problem Holes.
Most people, at least in this country and other industrialized nations, when they encounter a problem, they may struggle to deal with it and solve it, but ultimately, they deal with that problem privately. Their problems are solely their problems.
But people of this later category are different. They can't handle their problems. Perhaps because their problems are bigger, or perhaps because their problem hole is smaller than most. People in this category make their problems YOUR problems. In other words, they fling their problems onto others.
I'm of the view that all of our problems should be handled by ourselves alone. Our problem holes are private. Our problems should be too.
Unless, of course, if it's a really big problem. A problem that is bigger than anyone's problem hole. Then you need a bunch of problem holes to handle that problem. The only problem with that is that is what you'd call a socialist problem hole.
And that is the problem with problems.
If I watch it without "closed captioning" I miss a lot of what is being said because of the strong British patois of the characters. If I watch it WITH "closed captioning" I miss a lot of the show trying to keep up with the machine-gun like speed that the captioning is forced to be presented, and often it simply can't keep up with the dialogue or the respective scene.
and I hope I'm not "outing" him, but I'm pretty sure bigvern is Karl Pilkington.
"I resemble that remark!"
Well, actually I think of it in terms that many people can't allow a peaceful space within their mind. They have to fill it with drama, or things to be upset about. That's why so many people have trouble with meditation and/or exercising a discipline. You can't do either while filling that hole with drama.
drama, and I think we like it to some degree. But sometimes life just sucks and we have no choice but to be strong and pick ourselves up, or just fall apart. I have a lot of family drama, being a caretaker for someone that wants to be at home. He threatens to kill himself, and I will have to ride over to the assisted living and tell him "if you keep saying that, they are going to put you in a nut house. you worked so hard, so you could be taken care of now. I will be a nursing home when I am your age. why can't you just be grateful for this beautiful place?"
Meditation provides a break in my brain, from the endless cycles of thoughts and questioning those thoughts. And I do have to question my thoughts, because sometimes they are just crazy and way off base from reality. I like to stretch while I am meditating, focusing on the painful places. I thank my body for protecting those areas and give my body loving thoughts that it's okay to release the pain now.
e are always correct though, if we say "life sucks" we are right, on the other hand, if we say "life is great" we are also right. If we are of "sound mind", we do have a chose in how we choose to think and within the confines of those thoughts, we are always correct
being right! More in being happy, and life is grand! 
we can shift our perspective to the miracle by focusing on what we love and being grateful for what we have. but it does suck sometimes, and people suck too sometimes. You try to have boundaries of peace and space in your life, and it's so easy to avoid and ignore the negative friends. But family, you just set the boundaries of no phone calls after 10pm unless emergency. No phone calls at work unless it's an emergency. No phone calls while I am trying to get out the door for work, unless it's an emergency. I have to be in the right space of mind (sound mind) to deal with the drama, or I will say something mean and regretful, ya know.
Life is good, Happy Memorial Weekend