Be Kind, Rewind/RETURN OF THE MACK
- P is for Positive
- Dec 26, 2018
- 4 min read
In this episode: This is how it's supposed to start, right? I don't know. It's been too long. Santa brought me some inspiration this holiday season.
Hello. Hey. Hi. I'm Omar. Remember me? Me neither. It's been way too long since I've written for P is for Positive, and I apologize, but I also don't because life happens and sometimes that takes precedence. So, I'm sorry I haven't been here for a while but I will do my best to re-acclimate to writing on a semi-regular basis for the blog. Those who know me know I'm a sucker for New Year's goals and resolutions, so I thought it only fitting to have a kind of retrospective on 2018, and also on the more recent history since I last wrote.
I've always been made a little fun of for taking New Year's goals and resolutions so seriously, and recently I've actually moved to birthday goals which are a little more personal for me, but I relish the idea of using any opportunity as an excuse to take a minute and evaluate where I am in achievement of goals, whatever they may be. But I'm also going to argue for and challenge you, dear reader, to take a minute and think about where you are and where you want to be, regardless of whether people will say you're jumping on the New Year's bandwagon or whatnot. I think it's difficult with all the noise on social media to decide whether you're Team #newyearnewme or if you're Team #it'sjustanotherday but I say, why not be both? Everyone seems to have an opinion, and I've always struggled with being able to say "yes, I'm choosing today to consider my goals, and there's no time like the present." In all honesty, I've always struggled with having an opinion and sticking with it without being swayed by someone's input on that opinion. I think it's important for everyone to have convictions and believe in some things strongly, but also recognize that new information can bring about a change in someone's mind.
The thing that really called out to me to write about today was the idea of the whole "enjoying the journey" and "living day by day" phrases or mantras that people often say. To be honest, I used to HATE these phrases. These kinds of phrases meant a kind of flippant disregard for planning life and going with the flow, but not in like a Monica Geller-esque way of saying "I'm breezy!" but rather in a Sarah Palin "Only dead fish go with the flow" kind of way.
I realize that was probably the wrong way to look at that, not only because it was so so negative, but also because I understood so little about it to have such a strong opinion on it. Over the last few months, things have been rough, but everyone goes through rough things in life. I'm not the first person to face hardship and difficulty in my life. But one thing that I realized was that I let that hardship cloud my mentality about the future and life in general. I had gotten to a point where it was hard for me to visualize a future for myself beyond the next week. That really made me sit back and think about the idea of taking it day by day. What did this mean? What did it look like? How long did I have to do it before I could go back to "normal," which, for me, meant planning every aspect of my future to a T.
I had gotten so wrapped up in being frustrated that I didn't realize I was missing out on what was happening in my day-to-day life. I will readily admit, though, that when you're going through difficulty, it's easy to think life will always be that way but the reality is that it won't. It really is hard to see past tomorrow or even past today when things are rough. So what's the way to deal with that? Roll with the punches and "live day-by-day". Yes. It's true. I started to adopt a phrase I had previously so vehemently (and wrongly) shat on because I didn't understand it, but moreover I didn't WANT to understand it. I wanted things to go back to the way they were because that's what I knew and what I liked. I work with people who work in a sheetmetal machine shop, and one of the things they talk about is the "want to," or the willingness to get the work done. I had no "want to" in me and I realized that this was the source of a lot of my own problems. That said, are the rough times 100% over? Not at all. Do I know how to approach the situation with a better mindset? Absolutely. And this "day-by-day" mindset, which I previously thought was my worst enemy, has become one of my strongest allies. I felt compelled to write about this today because I finally feel like I'm at a point where I can not only see the future, but I am actually EXCITED for the prospects that the future brings. It's weird to say that after trudging along for a few months now but even though I'm not in a groove just yet, I'm getting to the point where I can start a rhythm of life that seems semi-normal. It comes back to the whole idea of "getting comfortable with being uncomfortable," which I didn't understand at all until recently. I'm still no expert in it, but to me that means to just be able to handle yourself when life throws you the unexpected, and it absolutely will.
I know this blog has only been around a few months, and I haven't written in three months, but I just want to take a minute to sincerely thank all of you who read these posts and have reached out and given comments or feedback. This blog is my child and like any parent, I want to see this child grow and be successful. I am thankful for all of you who have read this blog in 2018 and I hope that 2019 will be a healthy, happy, and blessed year that will set you up for success in subsequent years. I want us all to look back at 2018 and see the reflection we did, and remember it fondly. I know I will.
All the best in 2019 and beyond,
Omar
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