Don't take life too seriously

No one has to tell us 'remember to breathe', we do it without thinking, its 'autonomic'. Sometimes I wish 'don't take life too seriously' was an autonomic response as well. For as long as I can remember I have been a very 'serious person'. Sure - I like watching comedy movies, and a good laugh. Though I tend to take what I do (particularly in my work life) very seriously and personally. You might be reading this and thinking 'So what??? ' it's good to work hard..to give it your best, to be all that you can be.  Some of you are probably wishing that more took their work more seriously - Am I Right ???

The problem is when something doesn't happen the way I expect it to happen...the way I want it to have happened it can cause me a lot of frustration and stress.  Imagine a volume meter from 0...10 of the 'this is serious!' is  turned up to 10 (maybe even 11 or 12). The whole world can feel like it is falling apart, and hearing the words 'don't take it too seriously' or 'too personally' - do nothing to help in the heat of the moment.

 

I have heard these words many times though the first time I actually listened to them was from a cousin. As a 'serious' kid, I did not engage in much 'kidding around', I had some fairly firm and strong beliefs about acting appropriate and being seen 'a good little boy'. Not unlike the image depicted in young Sheldon. Although I didn't really think I was better then everyone else..it did seem that somehow this notion got across to others..which didn't always make me very popular.

One of the ways of 'fitting in' my cousin helped me to realize was to be less serious about every little thing. To try not to hold on to "it must be like this", to be less 'black and white' about things - to kid around and pretend to have fun doing it. It was awkward at first, but eventually it becomes more natural.  The picture in this post actually represents a pretty grim period time I was having, feeling not 'in control'.  To help I created my own little 'stress management kit', posted positive messages all along my office walls, and wore silly costumes to try and help turn down the 'seriousness volume' - remind myself - not to take life too seriously - no one ever gets out of it alive.

What inspired today's post was two dreams I had light night.  In the first dream, I was working in a big corporate office, I had a big meeting with the present/CEO or something at 9:30, and I was giving a presentation on how to make 'the company better'. I submitted a draft of my proposal a few days prior. While getting ready, I was running late, could not find my nice dress pants, and my own other pair had a yellow paint stain on them. I knew I was going to be late, and there wasn't much I could do about it. I also overheard the CEO tell someone, "Oh this is written in 'Brad language' no one really understands that. This left me feeling deflated, as I walked into the meeting, but this is when I awoke.

In the second dream, I found myself with some 'time off'. I went for a visit to my home town in Cape Breton, again i was in a rush to get to 'some temporary job' that I took on while vacationing to help pay for the vacation.  I met a few old high school friends, who wanted to hang out, but I said I was too busy and had to get to work.  They shook their head and were like..man you work on your vacation? what kind of vacation is that? And I was like trust me...I am the most laid back person at my office.

Upon walking I realized perhaps I needed a reminder about life, and the importance to not take life too seriously - oh and remember to breathe !!