Monday, October 08, 2007

Crisis

Please excuse me while I have a personal crisis. Again. I had a similar one this time last year.

With boring regularity, as soon as the winter season starts shuffling off, with the reminder of time passing, another year grinding to an unsatisfactory close, I start to think – what have I done? The answer is always 'very little,' and I give myself a stern talking to, about how it is time to do something with one's life, apart from the bare minimum.

The years of my life are not recalled by any grand moments or great achievements, but by where I went, and what I bought. I can think to myself, "Oh yes, 2003. I went to Mexico." To some that may sound quite good, and it is, but it is no great feat to travel. When I said I wanted to do something bold with my life, a friend suggested I go sky-diving. I said that, in theory anyway, a comatose person could be strapped to a parachute and pushed out of a plane, and my idea of 'bold' would have to be something beyond the capabilities of the unconscious. But what? There is a great burden to ambition without talent.

The smallness of one’s life seems a little claustrophobic at times, but I suspect I would feel like this no matter what I was doing.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Proving that all those stereotypes about Aucklanders are correct.
We really are better than you.


Quelle horror. You mean ripping apart The Gluc and talking to your devoted fans pales into comparison now you've realised you're not Mother Tess?

Miss Prozac won't tell you to cheer up, that would be passe. Instead she reckons you should hop out into the sun, lap it up, admire the 4 carat diamond on your finger have a glass or six of Pinot Gris and chill out.

Anonymous said...

More thoughts. Miss Prozac really is horribly disappointed you're just like the rest of us and not superior at all. Well not like Miss Prozac who is of course very special and fabulous in every way...

Talia said...

Guess what? It’s your life, and you have a lot of say over what happens in your life and how you feel about it.

You can choose to be happy and satisfied or you can choose to be disappointed and regretful and decide to loathe yourself. It’s completely your choice.

1. Ask yourself:
- What choices could you make?
- What actions could you take?
Over the next 2.5 months to make the next 2.5 months better than the last ones.

2. Practise gratitude.
List 5 events, people or things in your life (yes you can include that flash convertible and having lots of dosh) that you are grateful for or that make you happy. If you do that every week, research indicates that you will be 25% happier within 10 weeks which means you’ll be 25% happier by Xmas day. You could speed it up with CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) or by focusing on the gratitude on a daily basis and making choices that get you closer to where you want to be…

Talia said...

There is a great burden to ambition without talent.

Actually the major accomplishments have come about either by accident or perseverance. There are many talented people that never achieve anything. Grit and determination is the solution.

Conversely look at all the talentless people who are successful!

Take Julio Iglesias (which many woman would have liked to do in his hey day). He's a best selling singer but his ambition was to be a pro soccer player. After an horrific car accident he was told he may never walk again. But (short version here) he dragged himself up and down the hallway until he was able to crawl and then walk.

Then he started a new career as a singer and look where he is today!

Anonymous said...

I just think you should just enjoy your personal crisis while it lasts. And if it hangs around for too long, you could always get a nice doctor to give you fun drugs to make it go away.

Seamonkey Madness said...

I think you should leave it all behind and take up that lucrative rugby contract in Toulouse.

Oh, wait...

Mrs Smith said...

Aren't you all quite kind (except for Miss Prozac, who has questioned my unquestionable superiority to all you dolts). Don't worry about me. It'll pass. It always does. That the All Blacks lost their match quite cheered me up.

Face said...

Howabout bankrolling my unborn yet inevitably wildly successful fashion label? There is a great burden to talent without cash.

Mummy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
unPC lesbian said...

Oh Mrs Smith, you know the answer...shoes! Now go out and buy a new pair AT ONCE.

I'm with you on the All Blacks. I was banished from the house on Sunday as others found my mirth quite irritating apparently.

llew said...

"Then he started a new career as a singer and look where he is today!"

Where IS he today?

Mrs Smith said...

Thank-you, Talia. I appreciate your kind words, but you have wasted your energy on lazy little me. If I were paralysed in a car accident, I wouldn't bother dragging myself around until I could walk. I would take it as a grand excuse to stay in bed all day.

Good question, llew - where is Julio these days?

Anonymous said...

Miss Prozac can answer that one *rushes off to check the satin sheets* yep he's still there.

I would take it as a grand excuse to stay in bed all day.
Spending all day in bed would be extraordinarily boring unless you plan to purchase a lifetime supply of vibra-eggs?

Robyn said...

Smithy, piss off to Rarotonga for a week with a vibra-egg. That'll sort you out.

Or you could start one of those blog things. I hear they are quite popular these days.

Wait, I've just thought of a cool new conspiracy theory. Mrs Smith = Anton Oliver. Of course. It all makes sense now, etc.