vaguely metaphysical post

[kellinator]

In the "our thoughts create our realities" department:

Is it just me, or have you ever noticed that when you're running late, you hit all the red lights and will inevitably get stuck behind a slow-moving dumptruck? It happens to me all the fucking time -- it's not a morning commute if I don't bellow "DRIVE, YOU MOTHERFUCKERS, DRIVE!!!"

This morning, I was on time. And I made even better time. Was that because the traffic patterns are slightly different a few moments earlier? Or is it because I stayed calm and wasn't focused on all the things I could run into?

And if it's really the case, why don't we fix our perspectives? Is it because we (I) find it more fun to be all doom and gloom?

Food for thought.

Comments

[renaissancekat.livejournal.com]

I used to be habitually late. For years on end, I just couldn't seem to make it to work on time--always 3 or 5 or 10 minutes late, nothing earth-shattering but late nonetheless. (I always seemed to make it to movies and other fun things on time... doesn't that say something?) One day I decided to put an end to it. I was tired of the crazy driving, the irate attitude I would develop each day and the uneasy feeling of being late yet again. So I started waking up five minutes earlier each day until I found the right amount of time to get ready for work. This morphed into stopping the snooze button marathon every morning as well. Instead of setting the alarm for thirty minutes before I needed to get up, I set it for five minutes before--so I could hit the snooze button one time and one time only. I also changed my perspective about what it meant to be "on time" to work from walking in the door at exactly 9:00 to being up and ready to begin work at 9:00. For me, that meant making 8:45 my target arrival time. Another benefit to this method is that if for some reason there is particularly heavy traffic or an accident, I still make it to work on time. I can think of two instances in the past year where there was total road blockage when I was still less than fifteen minutes late (and I have to travel nearly 20 miles to work).

Okay, so all of this rambling goes to illustrate my point that you can change it if you want. It takes self-discipline and planning, but soon enough it becomes second nature. Best of luck to you! :-)

[elizabethf.livejournal.com]

It's because we don't *really* open ourselves to the connection that we share with the entire universe. We're too self-centered to see that not only do others and their thoughts and actions and perspectives affect us, but ours affecto others as well.

It's not that it's more fun it's that we are too silly and egotistical to be the ones to chagne it...we expect others to accomodate us.

[ilexx.livejournal.com]

actually i think it's really that the fucking traffic around here just sucks donkey balls.

are you in atltrafficsux yet?

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

No, but thanks for reminding me!

[50f00tqueenie.livejournal.com]

vampstar. [laughs till i fall over]

[daraflower.livejournal.com]

And if it's really the case, why don't we fix our perspectives? Is it because we (I) find it more fun to be all doom and gloom?

i think about this sort of thing a lot... i don't think it's more fun exactly, but i do feel an odd sense of loyalty to at least some portion of my pessimism, as if to relinquish it entirely would be dishonest (however beneficial). sure i get depressed a lot, but i know there is a cognitive basis for it. it's authentic. i would be losing a part of my integrity and my insight to recant my view of the world, even if some of my views are terribly maladaptive. that's a bitch alright, but that's just the way it goes. the way i see it, there are good, sound reasons why we have the particular perspectives we do... and part of life is coming to terms with those reasons. only then can you hope to transcend them.

[misanthropist.livejournal.com]

I don't think it is really the case, or perhaps our perspectives would be fixed.