Stay Calm And Carry On

I feel bad for going so long in between blog posts, but I recently discovered the criticism that some professional bloggers endure. So I probably wouldn't want to blog professionally, even if I could make a living from it. On the other hand, there are a lot of blogs that I read that are so unprofessional, it's embarrassing. Most of these blogs are written by people I went to school with, so that makes me wonder if the school system was that bad, or if I just studied and learned more than most of those people. Either way, it makes me embarrassed that these peers of mine misspell simple words and can't use grammar or sentence structure to save their lives. Don't they at least have spell check?! I say, if you are going to put something on the internet for all to see, at least try to sound a little intelligent. I guess the trend now is dumping all your garbage on the internet for other people to slog through. I wonder if there is more useful information than crap left on the internet. More and more, people would rather be entertained than learn something. That's neither here nor there.

My original topic for this post was the saying, "Stay calm and carry on." I know it's a British saying, but I might just adopt it because I like it quite a bit. I don't think this saying is about being unemotional, as some people have said. To me it means pressing forward with dignity and grace when things are hard, rather than falling to pieces or lashing out at others at the slightest difficulty. While I see nothing wrong with being able to express your emotions freely, I think there are many people out there who could learn a little more self-control. Is it always best to immediately say something nasty back to someone who has said something nasty to you? When your car breaks down, is is good to let out a long string of curses or burst into tears? When you find out you have a chronic disease, should you wallow in self-pity and give up on life? I think the answer to all those questions is 'no'. When difficulties arise, stay clam and carry on, and you might find your problems are a little easier to get through.

Living Today

I recently read a quote from Albert Einstein that said, "I never worry about the future, it comes soon enough." It struck me how good it would be to put this into practice. Too often people plan and worry so much about the future that it comes at the expense of living the present moment. What is the future other than more of what we are living right now? Things change in the future, but none of those changes are for certain. If we are constantly thinking about the future, that is what we will continue to do in the future, and nothing will ever be good enough to enjoy because we will always be anticipating the 'next big thing'. I think it is important to plan some for the future, but more important to live your life right now.

I also recently saw this German music video, and if you can get past the weirdness of it, you will find out that he is singing about starting fresh and new. Maybe it's just me, but I saw a link between the Einstein quote and this video. What it means to me is, live in the present and also don't be afraid to start over at any time. You only have one life, so why waste it being something you don't want to be? Why be afraid of starting over when the only moment you have for sure is now?

Gandhi once said, "Action expresses priorities." I know I have a lot of work to do when it comes to living each day to the fullest. I hope I can take action to express that living fully without fear of mistakes or the future is a priority.

Expectations Of Reality

Have you ever been really excited for something only to be very disappointed when it actually happens? I'm not talking about the disappointment that comes when something goes wrong like burning the food or doing badly on a test. I'm talking about when everything goes according to plan, but in the end it just doesn't live up to your expectations. Examples of this would be going to Disneyland and not having that much fun, or throwing a party where guests leave unimpressed, or going on a date with someone you have been dying to meet, only to find out you don't have a connection. It happened like you expected, but you didn't get the feelings you expected.

I have found that this disconnect between reality and perception usually comes from believing too much of what we see in t.v. or movies. How many commercials or shows have you seen where everything just falls into place perfectly? Picture a commercial where a couple is having a romantic picnic on the beach at dusk. They have champagne and a big blanket and they both look amazing in their beach clothes. They kiss under the stars and stare deeply into each other's eyes as the waves crash in the distance. Sounds great, right? But then think about what might happen if you really tried to do that. You might have had a hard day at work, and you don't look so amazing. You might get sand in your underwear and come home with a horrible rash. You might park in a bad spot and get a parking ticket. You might be worried about your kids who are at home with the babysitter. You might be really cold because you forgot to bring your jacket. You might be fumbling in the dark for the champagne and then spill it all over yourself and the blanket.

I admit that not everything went perfect in that scenario, but even if it had, it probably wouldn't have been as perfect as in the commercial. That's because t.v. isn't reality, but we tend to think that it is because we see it so much. We expect things to be as perfect as they are on t.v., and when they aren't we are disappointed. People need to remember that things rarely turn out as well as they do on t.v. That's just not how life works.

One way I have found to get past the perception of perfection, is to not go into something with high expectations. That doesn't mean you can't be happy or excited about something. Just don't get your hopes so high that it is hard to recover if they are smashed. Also, when you leave expectations behind, you are free to live without any restrictions on what "should" happen. It can be very freeing to "let the chips fall where they may", so to speak. You may even be pleasantly surprised by the good things you weren't expecting.