Because I am not in the greatest mood due to a number of stressful things going on in my life at the moment, I am choosing not to embrace the despair, as would be what I would've done in the past.
To "damn the torpedoes" as it were, I thought I would instead choose to focus on things that inspire me and make me happy and have that be my new method of dealing with stress rather than retreating under the covers and waiting for the storm to pass.
So, the way I figure it is that everyone makes their own happiness in life. Of course there are outside factors that contribute to this, but when it comes down to it, there is no other person or thing responsible for your own happiness but you. And I am finally at a point in my life where I "get" that. I am never going to make everyone happy all of the time, and I shouldn't have to. They have to make their happiness themselves, and it is not my responsibility.
So, on that note, I want to share a few things that keep me getting up everyday because there's hope and promise and wisdom and humor in the world.
1. Remember the "Wear Sunscreen" song that came out in the 90's? Everybody freaked out over this spoken word song, and it was probably the most used graduation song in the history of the world. You know why? Cos' it's a pretty friggin' cool song. Some of my favorite lyrics: "Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements."
"Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't."
It's all about what you choose to find important to worry about. We're all going to worry no matter what, and God knows I'm going to worry no matter what, but you/I have to temper it with what you can change and what you can't.
2. Frank Sinatra's "My Way." Who else but the Chairman of the Board himself can truly claim to have lived the way that he sung? He didn't take shit from anybody and the whole misogynistic attitude he had aside, I think he kicked ass.
"I’ve loved, I’ve laughed and cried. I’ve had my fill; my share of losing. And now, as tears subside, I find it all so amusing. To think I did all that; And may I say - not in a shy way, No, oh no not me, I did it my way."
Hell, yeah. He sums it up pretty well. He didn't always come out on top, but he damn well did what he wanted to do, and he learned from it and has no regrets for living his life the way he chose to do. Nobody will ever again have the self-assured swagger of Frank Sinatra, but I'm gonna do the best I can to duplicate his attitude.
3. In no particular order, the movies "The Princess Bride," "Three Amigos," "Student Bodies" and "Better Off Dead." Granted, there are more movies that I love, but these stand out as movies that I have spent countless hours quoting with friends when I could be in the worst mood in the world or even just a so-so mood, and with one "Hello, my name in Indigo Montoya, you kill my father, prepare to die," I am laughing so hard that I snort.
And while it may not be pretty, snorting during laughter is one of the most liberating things in the world. It means you're so happy that you don't even care that you are making an ass of yourself.
Frankly, every single word spoken in "Three Amigos" could send me into a fit of spastic laughter. It has been my favorite comedy since I was about 12, and I guess that saying about "Who you are at 3, you are at 30," rings pretty true in this case. The scene with the Singing Bush and Invisible Swordsman alone is enough to lift my mood just thinking about it, much less watching it. God bless Steve Martin.
4. Again, in no particular order, these are an assortment of random things that either inspire me or bring a smile to my face: My niece telling me she loves me, phone conversations with people that I care about that are neither productive nor necessary, but they do serve the purpose of making me feel good, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, a well-written book where every sentence is so well put-together, you want to meet the author just to thank them, when, for no reason at all, the commute is 15 minutes shorter because of light traffic, spring, family holidays where everyone gets along, a fresh, blank journal, George Clooney, diet vanilla Pepsi, people that you sleep well with (I mean, sleep, too, get your minds out of the gutter), freshly picked flowers, a non-metered parking space in Philadelphia, skinny pants and skinny mirrors, karaoke, happy hour and crawfish.
So, that is the end of that, which is by no means all of my favorite inspirational things, but this could go on forever if I kept at it, so I'll save the rest for another day.
I hope that as well as shedding some much-needed optimism on my mood, I leave some of you feeling a little better.
Feel free to share things that inspire and motivate you or you can just quote "Better Off Dead" if you want.
10 comments:
i don't think i have ever seen "better off dead". but "the princess bride" is one of the best movies ever made. best quote from that movie "have fun storming the castle". what better line exists when saying goodbye to a friend whom you probably won't be seeing for a really long time. the departure of the intrepid heroes on their way to an uncertain future with no real plan, a little chance of success, and odds so long that jimmy the greek stands a better chance of returning to broadcasat sports than for them to live another day. but in the gleefull goodbye, "have fun storming the castle" it just reminds you that no matter how bleak things are or how big of a shit sandwich life serves up to us, somehow a glimmer of hope always shines through and keeps us going. the tricky part is recognizing the glimmer of hope and not giving up.
That is a really good line. I also will never be able to hear the word "inconceivable" again without thinking of that movie.
Also, the part in the fire swamp when she says "Aren't you afraid of the ROUSEs?" and he says, "Rodents of Unusual Size? They don't exist," right when one jumps out of the shadows and latches onto his shoulder. God, that's a great movie.
i always liked the "you are the goon squad" quote. having been part of more than one goon squad in my life the humor of a very large man being refered to as the entire squad is just plain funny. especially when taken with the fact that i know some poeple that are almost equally as large as andre the giant. i can't count how many times i have heard coworkers say "i am the goon squad". i myself have on occassion been heard muttering that very phrase and laughing under my breath while putting on kevlar stab vest, knee and elbow pads, and helmet..."i am the goon squad". but let's not confuse that with my being a goon. : )
I'll try not to get confused, then, ;P.
And I hate to bring this up, but it's the Brute Squad. And I think I would personally have to chuckle if I ever heard you refer to yourself as the Brute Squad. I'm sorry, but you don't scare me, Phillips.
ok, so i have been known to misquote things sometimes. as i recall i recently quoted "the lord knows no fury like a woman scorned" which was funny when i was told that hell, hell has no fury like a moman scorned. what ever. it's so hard keeping all of my worthless historical knowledge and still quote poeple with any sort of reliability. and it's always the people who know me best that have the hardest time visualizing what i do, and i am very thankful for that.
I have the same trouble keeping '80s song lyrics straight; clearly, I'm not plagued with that pesky historical knowledge.
And I'm glad to be included among the group that knows you best.
i could always show you more pictures. but that wouldn't do any good if you refuse to look at them.
Well, if they're the same pictures that look like that scene in "The Shining" where blood pours out of the elevator, I'm going to keep refusing to look at them.
the pictures weren't bad, and you didn't even look at them. so how would you know? smarty pants
My pants are pretty clever..and I saw enough to know that I didn't want to see any more, punko.
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