OverExposed

There are a few lessons that I keep bumping into and feel worthy of making note of as they keep being proved true. Not only something to pass along to the kids but to post for myself as a reminder so that I can stop falling down those same holes. At least at this point in my life (being so old and wise - phbttt) I usually do see the pitfalls coming. If I manage to stumble into them anyway I recognize the situation so much faster, remove myself and move on without the damage I'd gone through in earlier years. My reaction time is much quicker. We do learn from our mistakes.

(Thank god there really is something about this getting older/getting wiser thing. It's not just about gray hair and wrinkles.)

1. Trust Your Instincts. Your brain is trying to tell you something. All your excuses as to why your First Impression was incorrect are just that: excuses. If that guy seems creepy, if that woman seems slightly off-balanced, if something seems odd... run. Turn and run now. Don't even go there. You will dismiss your Early Warning System ("but everybody else likes him, he seems so harmless", "she's a little weird", "he seems a bit too eager to please, I wonder what that is all about", "I wonder why I wasn't introduced to anyone else", "How strange that they made the offer so fast", "That explanation doesn't quite seem to add up...") and forge ahead anyway.

You won't run. You'll stay and dismiss those nagging warning bells. And in the end those warnings will be proven true. But you'd have felt silly if you had walked away from a situation just based on your gut feelings - at least that first time. You'll learn though, and you'll learn fast. Trust Your Guts. Your Guts Are Right.

2. Value Yourself. Life is Too Short to Deal with Other People's Shit. Or - to put it in slightly more kid friendly language: You Deserve to Be Happy and Treated with Respect: the happiness part if your responsibility, no one can make you happy, that is up to you. But you must Stand Up and Demand Respect. Don't take crap from anybody. If your "Friend" is giving you grief, making you unhappy, teasing you - this person is not your friend. Find a new friend. If your job is stressing you out and making you miserable - find a new job. The stress is not worth it. The money is good? What does that matter if you are a miserable fuck? I'd rather be poor and happy than rich and addicted to Xanax. Sometimes you've got to do whatcha gotta do - and that means taking the shitty job and putting up the crap. But not your whole life. Have a plan. Don't be stuck being miserable because you have no other options.


To which I'd like to point out that I'm so incredibly happy with my life right now and where I'm going. I'm not sure where exactly that may be but having recently taking these two lessons to heart I feel so much better now in all aspects and confident that I'm heading in a better direction. It really is amazing how much stress affects everything about you - and how much lighter and happier I feel after having removed that stress.javascript:void(0)
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This post has been brought to you by:

• Quitting my job
  
• Buying the Canon 30D that I have lusted over
  
• Running again, and signing up for a 10K
  
• Getting myself organized artistically and putting energy back into being creative
  

For me it's about knowing what my priorities are and keeping that in focus.