I am a wholly happy person, if I but let it be.
Despite years of self-reflection and a measure of insight into my isms, shortcomings and character defects there is still no guarantee that on a daily basis I will cope with life on life's terms. I can still find myself expecting emotional stability and an unflustered approach to any and all situations 24/7/365; at best I still feel the pangs of envy, anger and want; at my worst the slightest bend in the road will seem like a mental free fall.
Like most people, I want to feel good all the time, even though I know that's just not possible. Tough times, bad breaks and heartfelt sadness, not to mention loneliness, fear and depression are facts of life. Everybody experiences these situations and emotions to some extent at some point. No one is exempt - rich or poor, homeless or Harvard - no matter how stoic and emotionally stable, at some point life happens and our inner peace is shattered.
The difference, I have found, is what people (I) do with those emotions. I can wallow in my stuff and think of all the reasons why life is unfair, bitch and cry, pout, etc., all of which I have done more often than I care to admit. Today, I recognize the Fuck Its, the Whatevers and the Poor Mes, though I'll admit some days its easier than others.
Sometimes it's physical; low biorhythms, sun deprivation (a real issue in Northern Europe) and PMS (a real issue no matter what my ex-husband says) can play crucial roles in emotional sobriety. Sometimes it's mental as in righteous indignation and a why-me attitude toward life's perceived pitfalls. Like when my princess crown slips a little to the right, I start thinking I deserve to be happy and shouldn't have any to contend with anything more taxing than worn taps on my spikes.
Well, a woman I know recently talked about wanting what she got rather than getting what she wanted - a slight twist on the old adage about wanting what you already have - which really resonated with me.
The truth is, if we (I) didn't have the ups and downs of life, if everything was as I think it should be, I'm pretty sure I would shortchange myself in the wonderful department. The bottom line is I may not be altogether the best judge of what's good for me.
I have trouble being objective about my life, and my focus can narrow to instant gratification via avenues like retail therapy and forbidden fruit. Rather than allow life to unfold as it will, I will do one of three things: a) compartmentalize my emotions into tiny, little boxes of rationalizations; b) shut myself within the confines of insecurity and doubt by totally ignoring the situation or c) allow my emotions to run amok. Whichever way, I'm demanding that life conform to something that isn't right, isn't real or just plain isn't good for me.
So note to self, because I still need the reminder, I will want what I got and not worry about what I'm getting. Life is good, if I just let it be.
Sent from my iPad
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Acceptance or Resignation
Where does your perspective lie when things don't go your way?
The former reflects a fairly optimistic, hopeful, glass-is-half-full outlook on life while the latter is marked by an overwhelming sadness and/or anger often accompanied by low self esteem and myopic point of view.
Most people tend to fall nearer to acceptance on the daily continuum of life, moving through the natural rhythms of birthdays, weddings and funerals without feeling the need to slit their wrists and bleed out. But a growing number of people I meet here in Amsterdam seem closer to the other end of the spectrum.
Maybe it's the economy. While there are a significant number of people on some form of relief in Holland, the same financial problems are hitting people all over the world. Most people just seem to make do.
Maybe it's the weather. Coming from a lifetime spent growing in the Florida sun, I understand after seven months in Amsterdam how continuous cold winds and gray skies can wear on the psyche. I mean for heaven's sake, it's July and the temperature here in A'dam is only just now topping 70 degrees. But it's also natural for temps to fluctuate year to year. And again, not enough there to say "uncle" and go cry me a river.
My good friend Fran used to give me 15 minutes to boo hoo about whatever so-called problem I had catastrophized that day before reminding me that no matter what goes wrong, the world is still a beautiful place. It's just sometimes harder to see.
So should your kid's teacher piss you off, consider yourself fortunate if you live in a place where kids can go to school and not be murdered by radicals who oppose education of any sort. Remember, an uneducated populace is easily cowed.
Should you use food as a means of solace, you probably live in a land of plenty where professionals can help you fill the hole in your soul with positive self esteem instead of self-loathing; not getting help is a crime you perpetrate on yourself.
Should your spouse finally tell you to get out until you get your shit together, be grateful you still have enough shit left to get together.
Should your biggest problem today be you don't like where life has led you then go somewhere else, but please, please, quit living in the problem and find a solution.
Most people handle what life dishes out. But for anyone over the age of 18 who finds him or herself mired in self-pity, resigned to the roles of either victim or martyr, please do yourself and the rest of us a favor - grow up, get over it and move on.
The world does not owe you a favor because your family dynamic adds a whole new dimension of fun to dysfunctional; you get no special consideration because your an active alcoholic, junkie or other substance abuser - recovery is only for those who want it; and there is no distinction for having the most issues, real or feigned.
The second half of the Serenity Prayer invokes a life of REASONABLE happiness, gained by accepting this sinful world as it is - not as I would have it. Another of my favorite prayers calls for acceptance of challenges with "unprecedented enthusiasm and hopeful expectations" - attitudes not possible with a "whatever" mindset.
The authors of these prayers were more eloquent than I, and their writings convey a spirit softened by gracious acceptance rather than sorrowful resignation.
That works for me.
Sent from my iPad
The former reflects a fairly optimistic, hopeful, glass-is-half-full outlook on life while the latter is marked by an overwhelming sadness and/or anger often accompanied by low self esteem and myopic point of view.
Most people tend to fall nearer to acceptance on the daily continuum of life, moving through the natural rhythms of birthdays, weddings and funerals without feeling the need to slit their wrists and bleed out. But a growing number of people I meet here in Amsterdam seem closer to the other end of the spectrum.
Maybe it's the economy. While there are a significant number of people on some form of relief in Holland, the same financial problems are hitting people all over the world. Most people just seem to make do.
Maybe it's the weather. Coming from a lifetime spent growing in the Florida sun, I understand after seven months in Amsterdam how continuous cold winds and gray skies can wear on the psyche. I mean for heaven's sake, it's July and the temperature here in A'dam is only just now topping 70 degrees. But it's also natural for temps to fluctuate year to year. And again, not enough there to say "uncle" and go cry me a river.
My good friend Fran used to give me 15 minutes to boo hoo about whatever so-called problem I had catastrophized that day before reminding me that no matter what goes wrong, the world is still a beautiful place. It's just sometimes harder to see.
So should your kid's teacher piss you off, consider yourself fortunate if you live in a place where kids can go to school and not be murdered by radicals who oppose education of any sort. Remember, an uneducated populace is easily cowed.
Should you use food as a means of solace, you probably live in a land of plenty where professionals can help you fill the hole in your soul with positive self esteem instead of self-loathing; not getting help is a crime you perpetrate on yourself.
Should your spouse finally tell you to get out until you get your shit together, be grateful you still have enough shit left to get together.
Should your biggest problem today be you don't like where life has led you then go somewhere else, but please, please, quit living in the problem and find a solution.
Most people handle what life dishes out. But for anyone over the age of 18 who finds him or herself mired in self-pity, resigned to the roles of either victim or martyr, please do yourself and the rest of us a favor - grow up, get over it and move on.
The world does not owe you a favor because your family dynamic adds a whole new dimension of fun to dysfunctional; you get no special consideration because your an active alcoholic, junkie or other substance abuser - recovery is only for those who want it; and there is no distinction for having the most issues, real or feigned.
The second half of the Serenity Prayer invokes a life of REASONABLE happiness, gained by accepting this sinful world as it is - not as I would have it. Another of my favorite prayers calls for acceptance of challenges with "unprecedented enthusiasm and hopeful expectations" - attitudes not possible with a "whatever" mindset.
The authors of these prayers were more eloquent than I, and their writings convey a spirit softened by gracious acceptance rather than sorrowful resignation.
That works for me.
Sent from my iPad
Thursday, July 4, 2013
X-Y Position Indicator...
OK, how many of you immediately thought the title had a sexual connotation? I'll admit, the handle made me smirk and conjured some fairly racy thoughts. But then, that's SOP for a healthy, single women in her 40s. Anyway, no, it's not an index from the Kama Sutra nor is it the indicator light on your favorite Pocket Rocket. It's the original name for the wooden prototype of the computer mouse, and it's inventor, Douglas Engelbart, died today.
The original design had only one button to click and was fairly basic in design -- probably much like the original Pocket Rocket, but I digress. A news item on Engelbart's passing got me wondering why we are determined to call things something other than what they are.
I mean, while the present-day devise might bear some resemblance to a mouse -- I get the cord as a tail and the curved top (which the original did not have) -- what do mice have to do with computers?
Another example: succotash. While most of you my age might think of Mel Blanc's Sylvester the Cat and his classic tag line of "sufferin' succotash," others will think back to Wednesday night dinners and a mound of yellow and green covering one-third of the plate.
The word is Native American and refers to cooked corn but fails to take into account the lima beans that are part and parcel of the dish. (P.S. I don't know of any kid, then or now, who would ever eat lima beans.) So why call it succotash? Why not corn and beans or beans and corn or corn and yuck or just plain corn yuck. Seems a bit more fitting, don't cha' think?
And rather than languish in mid-American 20th-century speak, let's talk here and now.
Hook-up: From the turn of the century MTV or some other 20-something venue that bears no resemblance to the original. In past times you had your electricity or phone or cable hooked up. Today it means fucking.
Then there's the booty-call: A bit dated as well but heard in use just yesterday, booty has always meant ass, as in arse, butt or derriere; something of value. And call, at least in this respect, refers to telephone, text, throwing up a gang sign, you get the picture. And again, we're really talking about getting together and having sex -- the booty call merely forgoes spending any meaningful time together before fucking.
And finally, making love: Really? Maybe. And I'm keeping a good thought, but I'm not so sure about society in general.
So my question is, why do we insist on referring to something by a name other than what it is. I mean, I love words and a clever turn of phrase, but I hate being unclear or glib. Fucking is fucking -- whether you do dinner and drinks, movie and popcorn or just a couple of quick taps on your keyboard. Fuck never went out of style or context, it just became passe from overuse. Still, it does have that only-the-foul-mouthed-use-it type of reputation, and maybe that's reason enough to use other words and phrases.
Maybe. It is what it is.
The original design had only one button to click and was fairly basic in design -- probably much like the original Pocket Rocket, but I digress. A news item on Engelbart's passing got me wondering why we are determined to call things something other than what they are.
I mean, while the present-day devise might bear some resemblance to a mouse -- I get the cord as a tail and the curved top (which the original did not have) -- what do mice have to do with computers?
Another example: succotash. While most of you my age might think of Mel Blanc's Sylvester the Cat and his classic tag line of "sufferin' succotash," others will think back to Wednesday night dinners and a mound of yellow and green covering one-third of the plate.
The word is Native American and refers to cooked corn but fails to take into account the lima beans that are part and parcel of the dish. (P.S. I don't know of any kid, then or now, who would ever eat lima beans.) So why call it succotash? Why not corn and beans or beans and corn or corn and yuck or just plain corn yuck. Seems a bit more fitting, don't cha' think?
And rather than languish in mid-American 20th-century speak, let's talk here and now.
Hook-up: From the turn of the century MTV or some other 20-something venue that bears no resemblance to the original. In past times you had your electricity or phone or cable hooked up. Today it means fucking.
Then there's the booty-call: A bit dated as well but heard in use just yesterday, booty has always meant ass, as in arse, butt or derriere; something of value. And call, at least in this respect, refers to telephone, text, throwing up a gang sign, you get the picture. And again, we're really talking about getting together and having sex -- the booty call merely forgoes spending any meaningful time together before fucking.
And finally, making love: Really? Maybe. And I'm keeping a good thought, but I'm not so sure about society in general.
So my question is, why do we insist on referring to something by a name other than what it is. I mean, I love words and a clever turn of phrase, but I hate being unclear or glib. Fucking is fucking -- whether you do dinner and drinks, movie and popcorn or just a couple of quick taps on your keyboard. Fuck never went out of style or context, it just became passe from overuse. Still, it does have that only-the-foul-mouthed-use-it type of reputation, and maybe that's reason enough to use other words and phrases.
Maybe. It is what it is.
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Not So Random Thoughts
From a way-late, too-much-coffee-fueled conversation with my friend and kindred spirit, Helene.
Indifference: the emotional equivalent of "I don't give a fuck." Well past "upset about" and "fed-up with," it's the final phase of dealing with people, places and situations that have gone from unacceptable to un-fucking-believable.
You know you're at this stage when no matter what is said, done or imagined, it leaves no impression on your mindset and there is little to no reaction in your heart. It's at this point that cooler heads prevail -- you're just plain DONE.
It's also a far more comfortable feeling than the aforementioned negative states. It may be somewhat habit-forming, but it beats the hell out of the emotional turbulence and mental masturbation that accompanies the crap the world throws our way. Just a thought.
Indifference: the emotional equivalent of "I don't give a fuck." Well past "upset about" and "fed-up with," it's the final phase of dealing with people, places and situations that have gone from unacceptable to un-fucking-believable.
You know you're at this stage when no matter what is said, done or imagined, it leaves no impression on your mindset and there is little to no reaction in your heart. It's at this point that cooler heads prevail -- you're just plain DONE.
It's also a far more comfortable feeling than the aforementioned negative states. It may be somewhat habit-forming, but it beats the hell out of the emotional turbulence and mental masturbation that accompanies the crap the world throws our way. Just a thought.
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