"The World Needs You to Stop Being Boring"

Note:  I realized while writing this that it might sound like I'm being really hard on myself.  Don't worry.  I've been doing fine, these are just some thoughts I've had on what I can be doing better.

So, about a month ago there was a video popping up all over Facebook.  It seemed like everyone and their dog was posting links to "A Pep Talk from Kid President to You."  When I first noticed this popping up, I tried watching it, but turned it off after about 2 seconds.  I don't know why, but I apparently decided in those 2 seconds that the video was boring and I didn't want to waste my time on it.  Well, like I said, everyone was linking to and sharing this video and I couldn't escape it.  So, I decided to give it a second try.  And, you know what?  It was actually pretty good.  If you somehow managed to not notice it anywhere, you can find it here.

The first few lines of this pep talk really struck home for me.  "The world needs you to stop being boring.  Yeah, you.  Boring is easy.  Everybody can be boring, but you're gooder than that."  I felt like this really addressed something that has been bothering me for quite a while now.  It seems like whenever somebody asks me how I'm doing or what I've been up to, I always say the same thing, "oh, you know, same thing as usual.  Going to school, trying to get my research done. And, yeah..."  Don't I have anything more interesting than that to say?  Do I really not do anything new that's worth mentioning?  What's the deal?  Anyway, after watching this video, I realized that it's up to me to not just take the easy route by being boring.  I decided that I needed to spice up my life.

I was discussing this with a friend of mine a couple of weeks ago.  I told her that I had been feeling like I needed to add some more excitement to my life and that I needed to do things that would provide me with stories to tell people.  Well, be careful what you wish for.  That night as I was preparing dinner for my dinner group, I managed to slice off a piece of my thumb.  This wasn't quite what I had in mind when I said I wanted more stories, but hey, beggars can't be choosers, eh?  Anyway, I was slicing potatoes on a mandoline and managed to take the edge of my thumb off.  It wasn't a huge piece, but it was big enough that I debated for a few minutes about whether I should just take care of it at home or run up to the Student Health Center.  The health center won out in the end and I had my roommate rush me up there.  It got bandaged up, I got a tetanus shot, and I got home on time to change my plans for dinner and (with the help of my roommates) still get a meal finished relatively on time.

That extra "e" adds an extra element of danger

This desire to add a little more flavor to my life also came into play with this past Presidents' Day weekend.  Back in January, a group of my friends decided to drive down to Las Vegas during the long weekend to visit another friend who is leaving on a mission soon.  At the time I thought, "sure, why not?  I need to do more fun stuff."  Well, over the course of the next month, I started to flip-flop a lot over whether I was actually going or not.  I just couldn't commit.  Well, the Tuesday before the group would be driving down to Vegas, and not long after I had started seriously thinking about this "boring" dilemma of mine, I went out for lunch at China Town with my professor and the rest of his students.  When it came time for the fortune cookies, my fortune said, "Looking for enjoyment and adventure?  Go on a vacation."  How in the world could I ingore that?!  I committed to the trip that night.  I had a great time on the trip.  It was a fun group of people, it was nice to see this friend before she takes off to North Carolina, and the weather was beautiful.  While in Las Vegas, I also got chance to catch up with an old roommate of mine who I hadn't seen for 2 or 3 years.  And, on top of that, I got to visit with some cousins that I hadn't seen for years...one of which I'm pretty sure I hadn't seen for at least 10 years or more.  This was a real treat.  I am so thankful that I decided to seize this opportunity and go on this trip.  If I hadn't gone, I probably would have just sat at home reading, watching TV, and messing around on my computer.  While I enjoy those activities, they would not have been nearly as fulfilling as what I actually got to experience.

As I've been thinking about this dilemma, I've also come to realize that while seizing and making opportunities for yourself is an important part of introducing fun, excitement, and interesting elements to your life, there's more to it than that.  Attitude and perspective make a huge difference as well.  You need to be able to find the fun and interesting moments in a regular day.  So, I think that another problem with me feeling like I didn't have anything interesting to share when asked was that I wasn't paying close enough attention to the world around me.  I wasn't appreciating the experiences that I was already having.  I wasn't storing away in my memory all the little things that made me laugh, reflect, spring into action or made me feel excited, scared, hopeful or any other type of reaction.

So, after all of that I have two new goals for myself.  The first is to be more willing to seize opportunities and not be too lazy to do what I know will add richness to my life.  The second is to seek out and notice something each day that already adds richness to my life.  I'm a unique individual and I'm doing and experiencing things that other people aren't.  I just need to notice those and share them with others around me.