I’m not feeling too kind today. I don’t want to make eye contact with you, or hold the door open for you, or listen to you talk. I don’t want to show caring and compassion to every friend and stranger that I pass today. I want everyone to feel as bad as I feel today.
Why?
Because my good grades don’t feel good enough, my close friends seem distant, my shoes don’t feel right, and my morning alarm is too loud and too early.
Because my good grades don’t feel good enough, my close friends seem distant, my shoes don’t feel right, and my morning alarm is too loud and too early.
I’ve reached this speed bump. I was doing so well being optimistic and kind to people, and I reached this speed bump and didn’t know how to handle it, until now.
You know how sometimes a speed bump sneaks up on you. You’re driving 40 or so when suddenly your head is slamming against the ceiling and your bumper is scraping against the road and your passengers are angry that you would do such a thing to them? (If my dad is reading this, I have no idea what this feels like, I’ve just heard about it from television and friends who drive recklessly when I’m not in the car.)
So if you can’t avoid the speedbumps, and this careless driving leads to a wreck, who do you call? (Ghost busters). No, you call triple A.
Triple A: Acknowledge, Accept, Advance.
Triple A: Acknowledge, Accept, Advance.
Acknowledge
Acknowledge yourself. Acknowledge your feelings. Recognize that you’re bummed out, or recognize that you’ve never been happier. Whatever you’re feeling, be aware of it.
Acknowledge your situation. Recognize what events slowed you down, or what events made your day so great. Go through your day and just list everything that affected you. What you’re thankful for and what you wish you never had to experience.
Acknowledge others. Never stop seeing the people around you. They might feel the same as you, or you might be raining on their parade, or you might even be shedding too much light on their rainy day. Be aware of those around you.
Acknowledge yourself. Acknowledge your feelings. Recognize that you’re bummed out, or recognize that you’ve never been happier. Whatever you’re feeling, be aware of it.
Acknowledge your situation. Recognize what events slowed you down, or what events made your day so great. Go through your day and just list everything that affected you. What you’re thankful for and what you wish you never had to experience.
Acknowledge others. Never stop seeing the people around you. They might feel the same as you, or you might be raining on their parade, or you might even be shedding too much light on their rainy day. Be aware of those around you.
Accept
Accept yourself. You aren’t perfect. I’m not perfect. Accept that you can’t do much to change this. I can study harder, I can call/text my friends more, I can change the shoes that I’m wearing, and I can go to bed earlier, but if I’m already doing the best that I can do, I have to accept that this is the person I am. I’m an imperfect student, friend, shoe wearer, and sleep scheduler.
Accept your situation. This can be hard. Life isn’t fair, but accepting that is key. I just watched an episode of Parenthood where one of the main characters, Max, who has aspergers, has trouble understanding why he has to apologize to his younger cousin when the situation plainly is not fair to Max. However, the school was requiring a formal apology, so Max had to learn to suck it up, accept that life isn’t fair, and write the apology. And he did it with some sense of sincerity. So whatever situation isn’t fair to you, accept it and sincerely accept the situation and the consequences.
Accept others. This goes along with acknowledging others. Once you’ve acknowledged that there are other people on this earth and that they have feelings and emotions too, accept the strategy that they have for tackling these feelings. Don’t tackle their feelings for them, and don’t tackle their feelings for you. Accept them.
Accept your situation. This can be hard. Life isn’t fair, but accepting that is key. I just watched an episode of Parenthood where one of the main characters, Max, who has aspergers, has trouble understanding why he has to apologize to his younger cousin when the situation plainly is not fair to Max. However, the school was requiring a formal apology, so Max had to learn to suck it up, accept that life isn’t fair, and write the apology. And he did it with some sense of sincerity. So whatever situation isn’t fair to you, accept it and sincerely accept the situation and the consequences.
Accept others. This goes along with acknowledging others. Once you’ve acknowledged that there are other people on this earth and that they have feelings and emotions too, accept the strategy that they have for tackling these feelings. Don’t tackle their feelings for them, and don’t tackle their feelings for you. Accept them.
Advance
Advance yourself. Whether you recognize it or not, you grow every day in every situation. Advance yourself. Grow from your experiences. Don’t let your imperfections hold you back from being the best you that you can be.
Advance your situation. You’ve acknowledged it, you’ve accepted it. Move on. Take a deep breath and go on with life. Live more fully than you could before.
Advance with others. Now that you’ve acknowledged others, and you’ve accepted them, love them more and be more kind to them. Return to the optimistic view on life that makes yourself and makes others happier.
Now that we’re over that speedbump, let’s slow down and take in the beauty surrounding us on our commute.
