Today’s Random Thought (06-SEP-2024)

Perhaps I would be better served to just expect one or more aggravations and/or unpleasant experiences/interactions during my day. Then it would be a welcome surprise when such annoyances don’t arise and attempt to derail my understandable desire for contentment, peace, and happiness. 🤔

In case you haven’t picked up on it, I am being grimly sarcastic. And in case you are particularly slow on the uptake, I am feeling frustrated and angry as the result of experiencing one such unpleasant interaction that pretty much transformed a day that I awoke to with a sense of anticipation into one that was largely a disappointing day that still managed not to be a total loss.

I really try to be optimistic and most of the time anyway, I think that I am largely successful. But sometimes it seems like there is some kind of decree from on high to dump some unwelcome conflict, drama, irritation, and/or uncertainty into my life in copious amounts.

I generally get out of bed with a positive or at least a neutral outlook on the prospects for the day. Life is, for the most part, pretty good in spite of the inevitable trials, tribulations, disappointments, failures, losses, and setbacks. But I’m human. Sometimes previous events or impending future prospects lead me to wake dreading the day before me. But generally speaking, I don’t get up expecting to be angry, disappointed, irritated, or sad at some point during the day or at the end of the day. I really don’t. Perhaps that’s why I sometime feel shocked when things go sideways, in spite of my previous experience with such things. Frankly, it is such experience that leads me to question why I don’t just expect such unpleasantness from the outset and then allow myself to be pleasantly surprised if at the end of the day I can reflect on the fact that, “Absolutely nothing went wrong today.” Of course, such an outlook would undoubtedly place me firmly in the ranks of the pessimists.

Now a wiser man than me would probably take it one step further by expecting occasional “bad weather” while optimistically hoping for the best and resolving to be contented and happy in the face of adversity and unpleasantness. Sometimes I have have managed to do just that, particularly when I am expecting adversity and unpleasantness. The problem for me is when it arrives unexpectedly while I’m feeling optimistic and hopeful. Then it always seems to hit me as though it represents some shocking, totally unexpected development. Which in itself is rather amusing. It’s not exactly my first rodeo.

I should probably be more stoic. I have at times maintained a more stoic and reserved demeanor, but at other times I have been guilty of being less tight-lipped, noisily expressing my displeasure and my outrage, and wearing my heart on my sleeve. It is difficult for me to fake being happy. That’s something to work on, I guess. I should probably look for a good book on stoicism. Or just treat life more like a sport where it’s important to put on your game face and carry yourself like a champion at all times regardless of how you are feeling. Fake it until you make it, if you will.

In any case, it is what it is (or perhaps more accurately it was what it was). Just one of life’s occasionally disappointing days that I initially greeted with a good bit of hopeful anticipation and enthusiasm.