Too harsh?

Most of the people that know me know I am always wanting to improve something. What that something is depends upon my mood or what I can see at the time. A lot of times I want to do something with my house or yard. There are a few things that stop my progression. First, money. To do much of anything you need money. Second, more pressing chores. How can you work on the yard when you need to wash clothes or dishes? Third, a lot of the clutter around the house has nothing to do with me and if I decide to just get rid of it, I would end up divorced or at least separated.

Last night I did spend a couple of hours raking the front yard. I do not have a single tree in my yard but since neighbors on both sides have multiple trees, my yard gets a lot of leaves. So, I spent the evening listening to a book on tape raking, sweeping, and piling in the garbage. Between my front yard, the little strip close to the curb, the gutter and the sidewalk, I filled a trash can (one of the big ones the garbage man dumps every week.)

Several things happened last night that I wonder about my own mood and motives on some things. My youngest decided to take her shoes off outside, which isn't a great problem but I asked her and her older sister to find them and get them in the house. They played, and I told them again. This happened repetitively for quite some time. Then I asked them to go get my wife to help them find the shoes before it got dark. They did make it in to tell her that I wanted her but she assumed I just wanted to show her the yard so she blew me off. (Not a super huge surprise since most people blow me off anyway.)

I was a bit upset when I got in for a couple of reasons. I was happy with the way the yard looked and the work I did though. First, I only found one of the shoes and it was getting to dark to look around. When I went in, everyone had had something to eat (it was fend-for-yourself night) and not one single person bothered to put their dishes away let alone load them in the dishwasher and run it and the recycling bin was full. Needless to say, I was upset that no one bothered to do anything.

This is only one example in a series of events through my life that this has happened. I struggle to understand why people can live in a mess or not care enough to clean up after themselves. My family isn't the only one, I see or hear about similar stories all over the place. It is difficult to understand and I wonder if I should be upset about it or if that is the norm and I am just an abnormality when it comes to that type of stuff.

It is hard to care when everyone around you doesn't. Not just at home but at work as well. It is hard to keep up with all of the things that need to be accomplished when everyone around you seems to work against you. It definitely is a struggle. One day I may figure it out.