Nolie’s Nook – I Probably Don’t Have The Popular Opinion Here

Nolanne Rust

by Nolanne Rust

I know I probably don’t have the popular opinion here- or maybe I do but I don’t realize it because most of what we see posted or hear in passing are the negative comments on Oskaloosa.

And I get it to an extent. Sometimes we really just want better for our community. Sometimes we complain because we want things the way we want them so others can appreciate our home as much as we do. But a lot of times, we complain because we live in a time where satisfaction comes from downgrading someone/something and passing blame. We compete because it’s easier than helping or just doing. We point out the negative because we are only content in the perfect. We’ve come to expect a lot, but oftentimes give nothing- not even grace or the least bit of compassion.

I’ve seen a lot of posts in the past few months with so much anger-fueled toward our road conditions. More recently I’ve seen post after post complaining because our street was only patched instead of ripped out and redone. I’ve ALSO seen multiple posts complaining about A Ave being partitioned off and how hard it is to get through town.
I’m going to go ahead and point out the obvious…
If they had ripped out the whole highway, the project would take a whole lot more than a few days at a time to fix. A Ave would have been blocked off for a lot longer than it has been and will be.

I’m also going to admit that I have absolutely NO idea what factors go into finalizing these decisions. I am content leaving that to the right departments. I am happy to drive down the street on mismatched road surfaces that are even. I love Oskaloosa, and I would love for us to be able to have shiny new roads that magically appeared each time we needed. But that’s not a reality. And honestly, if it was there would still be complaints.

But what I do know, is that we do in fact have roads that are in far better condition than they were just a few weeks ago.
They are safe to drive on and that’s what matters most to me, above anything else.

And this isn’t just about roads. Or just about our hearts toward Oskaloosa.
This same mindset comes into play on much larger scales than Oskaloosa and much smaller, more personal scales than a town. Hearts toward people- toward friends- have become cold and explanation seeking rather than just love and grace.
Positivity will not come from a mind that is constantly judging and competing and holding expectations. Sometimes, we see people that have broken, mismatched surfaces and we point out the imperfections instead of having the grace to see how far they’ve come. Sometimes we fill voids with things that weren’t once a part of us due to unfair conditions. Sometimes we are only able to muster up a patch job instead of becoming flawless. And sometimes, we have weathered more storms and worse conditions than winter of 2018/19, and the fact that we are making an effort should be applauded instead of condemned.

Choose kind, spread love, show grace.