Category: General


In The Year Two Thousand . . . And Fifteen

Filed Under: General, Life, Reverb10 by Thursday's Child — Leave a comment
Tuesday, 21st December, 2010

(This post is inspired by Reverb10.)

December 21 – Future Self. Imagine yourself five years from now. What advice would you give your current self for the year ahead?

Past self, don’t sweat the small stuff. These are minor inconveniences, and you won’t even remember them next week, much less in the next year. Don’t fool yourself, into thinking that you aren’t talented or smart. You are. Just remember that not everyone makes good choices, and while you might work hard, they probably won’t work hard for you, too. Hold out for something good.

Don’t forget that sometimes things don’t work out. I know it sounds silly, but you have a lot of plans for 2011. And you will not fulfill the all. But you will at least try, and that’s a good deal better than just giving up before you start. Remember not to worry so much about how it would be to fail that you don’t ever start. Failure is better than a failure to act.

This is a year of growth, of maturation, of experience. Cherish it, and live it with relish. You won’t get another chance at it, so make the best of it you possibly can.

Oh, and most importantly: don’t take yourself, your job, your life too seriously. Sometimes, you’ve just got to step back and have a laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.

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Regrets

Filed Under: General, Life by Thursday's Child — 1 Comment
Tuesday, 21st December, 2010

One the one hand, I guess I could say that I don’t have a lot of regrets. To be sure, though, there are many things I regret saying, regret doing to another person. Who is without such things? But that’s not what I mean here.

In general, even when something turns out for the worst, I usually reflect on it as a learning experience, rather than a piece of wasted time. Generally, I regret more things I either gave up on or never even tried to do. Probably more than anything else, I regret that I didn’t stick with learning to play the piano. Or the guitar. Or the drums.

Yes, I played all three of those, some more briefly than others. I played piano for about a month, guitar for about 3, and drums for a few years. Of course, I never really got any good at them because I gave up so fast, but in hindsight, I really wish I had. Or that my parents had made me stick with it, either way. I would love to be able to create and share music with people. I would love to be able to sit down at a piano and tap out a song.

I’d love to be that guy who always has a guitar and a song handy, just whenever it’s most needed. But I can’t be. I suppose it’s never too late to learn, but it would’ve been a lot easier if I’d have learned young. So much free time. Such a soft, squishy, absorbent brain. I really wish I’d have stuck with it. If only for the ability to entertain myself.

So, maybe I’ll add that to the list of things to do in 2011. I own a guitar. Maybe I’ll should try to learn to play it, and put this regret behind me. We’ll see how it goes.

(This post was inspired by Lovely Anomaly. She linked me to the most amazing alto clarinet piece, Libertango. It’s really quite good!)

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Anniversary

Filed Under: General, Life, Love, Memories, Quickie, Relationships by Thursday's Child — 2 Comments
Monday, 20th December, 2010

Yesterday marked 2 years of marriage for the wife and me. We spent the day running around Dallas, playing arcade games, and catching a movie (Tron. It’s pretty awesome.)

I’m pretty wiped out, so all I have to say is that I love you, Kristen. And here’s to many more awesome years together.

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30 Days of Truth 7: Someone To Live For

Filed Under: 30 Days of Truth, General, Humanity, Life, personal philosophy, Relationships by Thursday's Child — Leave a comment
Sunday, 19th December, 2010

(An on-going project to discover truth in and about ourselves. See the others here)

Day 07 → Someone who has made your life worth living for.

This is sort of a silly prompt. I don’t live my life for anyone. I live my life because it’s my life to live. It’s not a matter of selfishness, because I have often (and will continue) to give parts of my life to other people. Much of my life has been given to my wife, my family. But I don’t live it for them. I don’t stay alive because of them.

That’s not to say they haven’t been a source of inspiration in my life, a pick-me-up when I get frustrated or tired. How could they not be? I mean, when you’ve given so much of yourself to these people, it becomes a matter of making sure you can continue to do that. Perhaps this is the same thing as “living your life for them,” but I don’t think so. The whole idea presented in this prompt is a bit melodramatic, I think.

I picture a man trying to swim across an ocean, and the only thing that keeps him going is some lost love on the other shore. Otherwise, he’d just quit and drown. I don’t guess I’ve reached that point. I may have given up on a few select projects or what have you, but I don’t imagine I would have laid down and died.

I also realize that this post is, on its face, contradictory to my last post. But I also don’t think it is. Just because I can’t really fathom a life without my wife or family, that doesn’t mean I can’t handle it, or that I wouldn’t continue on. It just means that I don’t want to, not that I can’t.

In any event, I guess this is all a non-answer to the question. But I don’t think you should ever live your life for someone else. You can choose to include others in your life, and you can choose to give of your life to other, but in the end, it’s your life. Not anyone else’s. And if your life isn’t worth living but for another person? Maybe you should reevaluate your priorities.

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