A silly little blog for me to drop the excrement of my mind.
Published on January 11, 2005 By BlueDev In Philosophy
This is a counter to my previous whine session, of which I am still a little embarrassed.

Life is hard. Work sucks. Nothing is fair. I'm tired.

Wah, wah, wah.

We all have felt the above at some point. It may be we are feeling that way right now. I know I am. But wallowing never lifted one up. The more you move around in the muck, the more entrenched in it you become. Sometimes there is only one answer, one solution. Tried and true, I have found it never fails.

Lose yourself and go to work.

As a missionary there were some days that felt simply hopeless. I was exhausted, sick, far from home and everything I had known for me entire life. Living in a dingy apartment, eating (very little) weird food, showering in the rain (I mean this quite literally, there were days where the easiest way to shower was to just stand in the rain since we didn't have running water), and walking and working your butt off only to have door after door slammed in your face, dogs unleashed when you were around (pit bulls and rotweilers are the favorite breeds in Guate), pretty vicious lies told about, and fleas (yes I had fleas) is not the most exciting way to spend day after day.

My father, one of my heroes, wrote me a letter. It was simple and one of the two letters I received from him when I was serving. He reminded me that I wasn't there for myself. I was there to loose myself and go to work.

Just as important in my life today, I need to remember to lose myself and go to work. Whatever that work may be, whether at school, at home, at church, I need to immerse myself in that. I'm probably not the only one either.

I see it in those around me. Gossiping, murmuring, muttering about what they hate and why they hate it. Reminding themselves every chance they get that life sucks, is unfair and they are miserable. News Flash! Life will always suck if you want it to. It will invariably be unfair so stop acting surprised. And work can be hell if you think about it hard enough.

So get over yourself, go to work, and do the best you can.

I am trying too.

Comments
on Jan 12, 2005
Peter, as usual, you hit the nail on the head. It seems to be that time right now for almost everyone, where they are feeling lost and have the world on their shoulders, me included. That's lost for whatever reasons, everyone's reason is different. I too find that going to work, whatever it is, as you say at home, or whereever, and loosing yourself in that work, will get your mind off what's troubling you.

It's when you keep wallowing in the muck, as you say, that this feeling will persist. Because it's ok to whine and cry and be angry, but it's not ok to keep sitting in it. Your father was pretty profound with that statement.

Just as important in my life today, I need to remember to lose myself and go to work. Whatever that work may be, whether at school, at home, at church, I need to immerse myself in that. I'm probably not the only one either.


Ditto! And you get an insigtful from me for this one.

on Jan 12, 2005
Because it's ok to whine and cry and be angry, but it's not ok to keep sitting in it. Your father was pretty profound with that statement.


I agree. We all need to vent sometimes. We all need to whine, cry and get it out of our system. But then we need to be willing to move on. Thanks for your great comments.
on Jan 14, 2005
Very well said, and you've caused me to be oh so reflective on my own existence today. I am pleased to be able to say that I'm so much more inclined these days to do just what you suggest and lose myself in work (or some other productive activity), than to wallow in my muck. For me it means the difference between being depressed and self-destructive - or not.

It is hard to find respect for someone who incessantly bemoans their circumstances without taking any steps to change things. Especially when it's yourself!

on Apr 30, 2006
Nice. Love the bump on an old thread. Especially one I forgot I even wrote!
on Apr 30, 2006
Good to see this article float back to the surface.

Still love the title, BTW. Thank you, Bryant Hinckley, for such inspiring words to your son.