Obama Cares

Yesterday the US Supreme Court, once again, upheld Obamacare. As a Last Quarter American, this doesn't directly affect me as I have been on Medicare for some years, now. Medicare is our system in America for providing 80% coverage of most all medical expenses. For a few hundred dollars additional each month, most of the remaining 20% is covered, as well. It allows the old and the disabled to pursue care with any Doctor who participates in the program ... the vast majority of American practitioners.

I don't know whether I think of this as "kindness" or "justice." I don't know that it matters to me. But the Affordable Care Act partially extends such concerns to other Americans.

It's to the question of "kindness and justice" that I wish to turn, this morning. I arose fascinating about the question of "attractive feelings and sentiments." Many visitors to my office, over the years, have seen themselves as ugly and unattractive. Sometimes, indeed, they have allowed their physical bodies to fall apart but more frequently I've come to think that they are describing the picture they have of themselves ... inside, so to speak.

Another thought crept into my early AM pillow thoughts. Does Obama care? I have since he was an for Prez of US of A strongly identified with him. He likes to think? So, do I. He thinks well? I did, too, not so many years ago. He has stayed married and connected to his kids? Me, too.  And he seems to care about others? and I do try to care for others.


Had me thinking: what ways of being are attractive? which ones unattractive?



So, here's a beginning list of those I consider unattractive:

Misery

The social Psychologists say "misery loves miserable company" ... I guess the rest of us tend to stay away. Maybe, it's only in my mind, but Obama seems to be a happy guy.

Perpetual Self-Effacement

Hey! If you don't like you, why should anyone else. That little smile at his own jokes ... something maybe borrowed from Red Skelton ... is something, perhaps, that those of us who like Obama find attractive.

Lethargy

The person who has decided to play dead is decidedly unattractive. How does one move towards one who has given up, whether in the Fourth Quarter or earlier. Obama, at least, appears to have a whole helluva lot of energy for a guy nearing Q4.

Self aggrandizement to the exclusion of others ....

I have no problem with Narcissism, as long as the Narcissist affords the same rights to each of their dear and near and can imagine strangers drinking from the same well.

Envy

The envious person, Melanie Klein once reasoned, is a kind of opposite to the grateful person. The
grateful person may recognize the things that are missing but feels blessed in what is there. The

Ethics of the Fathers 2000 years ago put it simply: Who is wealthy? That person who rejoices in what
they have! Envy may be among the least attractive of emotions. The person, indeed, sees the self and,
therefore, presents the self as unattractive. "How can I be attractive if all the good stuff is resident outside of me?" As a Last Quarter type, of course I recognize that the young couple walking their two year old is embarking on a journey of excitement that I shall not, again, taste. Indeed, I'm entitled (I give that to myself) to vicariously enjoy them ... to remember my own days .... and to find my own excitement. Hating others for theirs' is unattractive.

Hate

The hateful person's face looks like Hell ... indeed, like the Hell they put themselves, through. Many
have pointed out the complimentary natures of love and hate. Maybe, just maybe, both begin in
recognizing that the Other has something valuable. In LOVE, I seek to live alongside that Other and
to enjoy their posession ... whatever that may be. In HATE, I cannot endure the thought of them
having that same (?) attribute. I must have it all!

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I think that covers a lot of ground for me. Maybe, what I've found attractive in my President is my sense that he seems to embody that gratitude .... care for Self ... care for others .... interest in his own agenda ... recognition of the need to recognize that Others, too, are connected to their own agendas ....
attributes  that  I so much connect with the Good Life and with attractiveness. .... With apologies for this morning's preachy tones!