(This would probably sound better delivered verbally but you can pretend I'm saying it if you know what I sound like!)

Smoke and Mirrors

Listen to me.

As I look up from deep thought I think about life. I'm uneasy.

My Frustration is not having a cell phone for almost two weeks.
My Frustration is having to go to Sprint five effing times.
My Frustration is not attaining the fitness goals I want.
My Frustration is not being as productive as I wish to be on a day to day basis.
My Frustration is not understanding what I'm doing at work.

Are you hearing all this stuff that's going on?

Stress is getting up late for work over and over again when I set my alarm.
Stress is ridiculous traffic on my morning commute that frustrates the hell out of me.
Stress is not getting the girl I want over and over again.
Stress is people being angry at me.
Stress is having so many damn bills to pay all the time.

Stress is not knowing what I want to do with my life.

(As this rant continues a tiny squirrel runs past me. My head shifts slightly to the left)

As I look up I realize that...

Drama is not situations I've had in the past with people I know.
Drama is my buddy Kurt being a proud father and being forced to go to Iraq to fight.
Drama is growing up without one of your parents like some of my friends.
Drama is having to return groceries items because your family doesn't have enough money.
Drama is not being sure you're going to be alive tomorrow because of illness.

Reality is that most of my readers will never be below the poverty line.
Reality is that growing up neither of my parents lost their jobs.
Reality is that as a teenager most of my real problems dealt with social pressures and girls.
Reality is that most people don't have the luxury of being stressed and frustrated like me.

Most peoples' lives are too hard to even think about the inconsequential things I feel sorry for
myself about.
I dwell on things that a lot of other people would consider privileges to experience.

(As I continue to look to the left, I realize how focused I've been on myself. My Frustration and My Stress are both just that..... MINE. To the left and the right and above and behind me are other people with real problems that I could be helping. I've continually talked about how much I want to help people around me but haven't volunteered on the Southside once yet. But the great thing is that as humanoids we have to ability to make that change when we want.)

Life should be about perspective and
Life should be full of deep breathes and
Life should be about hugs (guy hugs are cool too) and
Life should be about continually taking a step back and seeing the whole picture (not just
from my point of view but from everyones)
Life is about cultivating all the things we have... not getting overwhelmed with the few things that seemingly always elude us.

Funny thing is, people will read this post and surely email me and say, “Dude, why are you so frustrated!” Again, focused on the negative part of the post. In fact, I don't know the last time I've felt so thankful and full of perspective. If anything, take the fact that as humans we have the ability to alter our perspective on life. I just feel like I've been living in my own little bubble for far too long and my priorities need some revamping. Don't get me wrong. From time to time, we all need to vent and be human, it's just important to also have perspective, which is something I was lacking before. I started getting frustrated with the effed up formatting but then started laughing cause the whole point was to let that stuff go - SO I DID!. You get the message.

I sit here and think about the people I admire the most. I'm not going to embarrass you all here but you all have something in common. You all constantly cultivate the “HAVE” in your life and you don't even think about the “WANT”. I feel very blessed to have so many squirrels in my life. Ya'll know who you are. Thanks.