(The Story of How I Play With Drama Daily)
Ok maybe this is unrelated to what I’m writing about today but I gotta get it out! Michael Johns getting voted off Idol? You gotta be kidding me! That kid had some pipes. He was a rocker and seemed cut out to sing for a living. I figured it would come down to David Cook and him. I’m mildly disgusted that Kristy is so obviously milking the Christian vote. (I love Christians don’t get me wrong, I just don’t believe in milking them). Anyway.
For those of you who don’t really know me let me briefly introduce myself. I have spent most of my life seeking happiness. Wandering through a maze of beliefs, techniques, experiments, and with some plain old pure dumb luck I have found myself in a pretty awesome state of happiness. Without getting sidetracked about what the hell that means let’s just assume it means I’m happy most of the time. Except when I’m not.
One key component to my happiness (and one of my definitions of happiness) is the absence of drama. After so many years of creating internal drama with myself I learned how not to (#1). After so many years of creating drama with my significant others I learned how not to (#2). (If you would like to know how that happened I can tell you – email me). I want my entire life to be a reflection of how I’m feeling inside. That means I’d like to feel good as much as possible (no I am not a Hedonist, I don’t think…). It really becomes fairly simple when we no longer choose drama as a way of life. So let me recap: I am happy inside and don’t create internal drama anymore. My relationship with Meghan and Nick is free of drama. (Bodhi however can still get me frustrated occasionally when I’m in the middle of an especially poopy diaper change and he starts twisting like a baby crocodile – but I don’t count that as serious drama). So what’s the problem you ask?
Well I have another life (#3). Yup, I’m leading a double life here – don’t tell me. My lovely drama free life ends the minute I leave the house and get into my truck. Mr. Happy becomes Joe Contractor. Now if any of you dear readers have ever hired a contractor to work on your house then you almost certainly have a story of some dramatic (maybe life altering) event because of the contractors ineptitude. Here are some classic examples:
-the company you hired fell off the planet for months on end, never to be seen after the demo of your perfectly good home
-someone hit a pipe with a nail installing trim. It doesn’t start leaking for 6 months
-the project took 2 years (supposed to be 3 months)
-the project cost 3 times what it was supposed to
-the plumbing subcontractors somehow put the clients Monet in the van too
-one of the carpenters is having sex with the clients underage daughter
-counting the entire roofing crew of 10, you might be able to assemble a full set of teeth
-the general contractor is only around to collect money, usually at 9:45pm on a Sunday
You get the picture. I could blog about the horrors of home renovation until I’m blogged and blue in the face. My point is the minute I leave home I encounter drama. Actually it’s more like this – D R A M A!!!! It can’t be helped. I try my best to avoid it, steer clear of it, or even run from it. The problem is I can’t. I can (as the old adage advises) run but I cannot hide. Each time I encounter the drama I go back inside myself and see how invested I get with it and why it affects me so much. Is it the money I’m owed? Is it the need for acceptance, the need to be liked? Is it an old story of failure lurking in the shadows? Or is it just the fact of dealing with a world at large that loves drama? What can I do to play in this gladiator arena but not get eaten? These are my daily challenges when I’m not in the relative safety of my office blogging away blissfully or at home with Meg & Bodhi. I have gotten much better at not being so hooked by all of the issues that I face each day. I strive to communicate better. I attempt to do what I say I’ll do. I try to orchestrate and execute my projects so they promote good feelings. I try to minimize the impact on my clients home. I try to bring all my happiness to the projects I do and sometimes it’s like pissing in the wind. And you know the best part about that? Instead of blaming the wind I just turn around and piss with it. You know, I really want to be happy all of the time. What’s so wrong with that? Are my clients or the world “out there” responsible for my happiness? No, but I often think I’m responsible for theirs and in many ways I am. Do the job right, on time, for what we agreed it would cost. That’s easy no? Not always. If they want to keep playing with drama who am I to stop them? Maybe that’s just the way it is. And maybe just maybe I’ll get 3 out of 3 one of these days.
For now, 2 out of 3 ain’t bad. I’m working on it. Hey, anyone need a house renovated?
In Love, Light, and sawdust.
J
Ok maybe this is unrelated to what I’m writing about today but I gotta get it out! Michael Johns getting voted off Idol? You gotta be kidding me! That kid had some pipes. He was a rocker and seemed cut out to sing for a living. I figured it would come down to David Cook and him. I’m mildly disgusted that Kristy is so obviously milking the Christian vote. (I love Christians don’t get me wrong, I just don’t believe in milking them). Anyway.
For those of you who don’t really know me let me briefly introduce myself. I have spent most of my life seeking happiness. Wandering through a maze of beliefs, techniques, experiments, and with some plain old pure dumb luck I have found myself in a pretty awesome state of happiness. Without getting sidetracked about what the hell that means let’s just assume it means I’m happy most of the time. Except when I’m not.
One key component to my happiness (and one of my definitions of happiness) is the absence of drama. After so many years of creating internal drama with myself I learned how not to (#1). After so many years of creating drama with my significant others I learned how not to (#2). (If you would like to know how that happened I can tell you – email me). I want my entire life to be a reflection of how I’m feeling inside. That means I’d like to feel good as much as possible (no I am not a Hedonist, I don’t think…). It really becomes fairly simple when we no longer choose drama as a way of life. So let me recap: I am happy inside and don’t create internal drama anymore. My relationship with Meghan and Nick is free of drama. (Bodhi however can still get me frustrated occasionally when I’m in the middle of an especially poopy diaper change and he starts twisting like a baby crocodile – but I don’t count that as serious drama). So what’s the problem you ask?
Well I have another life (#3). Yup, I’m leading a double life here – don’t tell me. My lovely drama free life ends the minute I leave the house and get into my truck. Mr. Happy becomes Joe Contractor. Now if any of you dear readers have ever hired a contractor to work on your house then you almost certainly have a story of some dramatic (maybe life altering) event because of the contractors ineptitude. Here are some classic examples:
-the company you hired fell off the planet for months on end, never to be seen after the demo of your perfectly good home
-someone hit a pipe with a nail installing trim. It doesn’t start leaking for 6 months
-the project took 2 years (supposed to be 3 months)
-the project cost 3 times what it was supposed to
-the plumbing subcontractors somehow put the clients Monet in the van too
-one of the carpenters is having sex with the clients underage daughter
-counting the entire roofing crew of 10, you might be able to assemble a full set of teeth
-the general contractor is only around to collect money, usually at 9:45pm on a Sunday
You get the picture. I could blog about the horrors of home renovation until I’m blogged and blue in the face. My point is the minute I leave home I encounter drama. Actually it’s more like this – D R A M A!!!! It can’t be helped. I try my best to avoid it, steer clear of it, or even run from it. The problem is I can’t. I can (as the old adage advises) run but I cannot hide. Each time I encounter the drama I go back inside myself and see how invested I get with it and why it affects me so much. Is it the money I’m owed? Is it the need for acceptance, the need to be liked? Is it an old story of failure lurking in the shadows? Or is it just the fact of dealing with a world at large that loves drama? What can I do to play in this gladiator arena but not get eaten? These are my daily challenges when I’m not in the relative safety of my office blogging away blissfully or at home with Meg & Bodhi. I have gotten much better at not being so hooked by all of the issues that I face each day. I strive to communicate better. I attempt to do what I say I’ll do. I try to orchestrate and execute my projects so they promote good feelings. I try to minimize the impact on my clients home. I try to bring all my happiness to the projects I do and sometimes it’s like pissing in the wind. And you know the best part about that? Instead of blaming the wind I just turn around and piss with it. You know, I really want to be happy all of the time. What’s so wrong with that? Are my clients or the world “out there” responsible for my happiness? No, but I often think I’m responsible for theirs and in many ways I am. Do the job right, on time, for what we agreed it would cost. That’s easy no? Not always. If they want to keep playing with drama who am I to stop them? Maybe that’s just the way it is. And maybe just maybe I’ll get 3 out of 3 one of these days.
For now, 2 out of 3 ain’t bad. I’m working on it. Hey, anyone need a house renovated?
In Love, Light, and sawdust.
J
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