Oh, Abe Lincoln, you were so, so wise.
His quote is just another pessimist vs. optimist, glass half empty vs. glass half full analogy. I strive really hard to try to see the silver lining in things. Is it always easy? Absolutely not. Does it annoy other people? Oh, absolutely! It used to make me second guess myself every time there was an eye roll, a back turned, or a comment made when I would make a joke or try to lighten the mood.
Then a very, very wise man said this to me in an email and made me change my viewpoint:
“Think about this , you have to feel sorry for difficult people because they have to live with themselves 24/7 and all you may have to do is to deal with them a fraction of this time. Secondly, if you try to kill them with kindness you may disarm them, and if you are mean to them back you will lose because hopefully they are so bad that you are not capable of being this bader to them,and if you can beat them in their game of being bad, you are actually bader then them and ultimately you may win the battle, but you will lose the ultimate game of life.”
Please forgive the grammatical errors; English is not his first language.
Hamid probably doesn’t know it, but his email made a profound impact on my life. Whenever I encounter a “poop,” I repeat his words to myself. They have to live with themselves 24/7 and luckily, I only have to encounter them for a brief period of time.
I have to wonder, what is it that makes us such crab apples? Why is it ever acceptable for anyone to be rude? Why do we frown more than we smile? Why are we not finding the silver linings, drinking from our half full glasses, and appreciating the roses? I’m not talking about being “Mary-freakin-sunshine” all the time, but, really, is it so hard to smile at people? Everyone has shit going on in their life. Everyone is carrying their own weight, their own burden, regardless of the front they may put on.
His quote is just another pessimist vs. optimist, glass half empty vs. glass half full analogy. I strive really hard to try to see the silver lining in things. Is it always easy? Absolutely not. Does it annoy other people? Oh, absolutely! It used to make me second guess myself every time there was an eye roll, a back turned, or a comment made when I would make a joke or try to lighten the mood.
Then a very, very wise man said this to me in an email and made me change my viewpoint:
“Think about this , you have to feel sorry for difficult people because they have to live with themselves 24/7 and all you may have to do is to deal with them a fraction of this time. Secondly, if you try to kill them with kindness you may disarm them, and if you are mean to them back you will lose because hopefully they are so bad that you are not capable of being this bader to them,and if you can beat them in their game of being bad, you are actually bader then them and ultimately you may win the battle, but you will lose the ultimate game of life.”
Please forgive the grammatical errors; English is not his first language.
Hamid probably doesn’t know it, but his email made a profound impact on my life. Whenever I encounter a “poop,” I repeat his words to myself. They have to live with themselves 24/7 and luckily, I only have to encounter them for a brief period of time.
I have to wonder, what is it that makes us such crab apples? Why is it ever acceptable for anyone to be rude? Why do we frown more than we smile? Why are we not finding the silver linings, drinking from our half full glasses, and appreciating the roses? I’m not talking about being “Mary-freakin-sunshine” all the time, but, really, is it so hard to smile at people? Everyone has shit going on in their life. Everyone is carrying their own weight, their own burden, regardless of the front they may put on.
In case you can’t tell, I am a quote person. One of my absolute favorites said by the famous Lou Holtz: “Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it.”
Yes, life sucks sometimes. We can all agree on that. But why would you cry when you could laugh? I’ve never understood that. I do understand everyone is different and has very different personalities and ways of dealing with things; it’s the beautiful thing that makes this world go around. We probably wouldn’t have some of our famous pieces of art if we didn’t have disturbed, troubled artists. (I’m totally talking out of my ass here, I’m not much of an art person, but I think I’m probably right...)
Ok, what’s my point of all this random rambling? Yeah, I’m not entirely sure either. Be nicer to each other. Smile more at perfect strangers. Jump up and down when you see people you’re excited to see. Wave at people stopped next to you at a stoplight. You may feel silly, but I highly doubt you’ll be ruining someone’s day. You may, in fact, annoy them so much they feel like annoying someone else – perhaps with a smile.
Ok, what’s my point of all this random rambling? Yeah, I’m not entirely sure either. Be nicer to each other. Smile more at perfect strangers. Jump up and down when you see people you’re excited to see. Wave at people stopped next to you at a stoplight. You may feel silly, but I highly doubt you’ll be ruining someone’s day. You may, in fact, annoy them so much they feel like annoying someone else – perhaps with a smile.
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