A couple of weeks ago, a sad realization hit me like a bitch-slap across the face... I'm finding it harder and harder to maintain a happy outlook on life. At first I couldn't figure it out. I seemed to be miserable for no good reason. But after taking a little "me-time," I finally decided that my life was badly out of balance...
What my life used to be about: Looking forward to the things I want to do.
What my life seems to be about now: Dreading the things I have to do.
Since then, I've been trying to put my life back in balance by forcing myself to make time for stuff I want to do. This, naturally, is much easier than it sounds, but it has the benefit of being cheaper than therapy.
The trick is trying to figure out what I want to do.
Unfortunately, it turns out that what I really want to do is drive one of those NASA moon buggies across the dunes of Mars in the first manned mission to the red planet.
Which means I'm pretty much screwed, because the odds of me going to Mars are fairly slim.
But I'm trying my best to compensate for it by doing other little things I think I might enjoy.
Tonight I bought myself a hot-fudge sundae for dessert, for example.
It's no trip to Mars, but it sure was tasty.
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Good for you! You know I am all for taking those moments of “me time” to figure out what will honest to goodness bring joy to life. You deserve that happy balance so you go on and get yours, Davey-Joe ;).
The consumption of choccie pudding may help…
Chocolate compensates for a lot, maybe even Mars, especially when coupled with ice cream.
I’d like to give you some sage advice, but I’m not that clever. Go with what works for you.
Tasty is good. You might live long enough to drive that Mars Rover.
Maybe an animated movie of lil dave and bad monkey going to mars?
It could be a Web 2.0 contribution project!
I bet it was tastier than a trip to Mars, too.
Just home from the shops. Do you want some choc-chip ice-cream? Works for me…
I had a similar revelation recently, when I realized just HOW MUCH I was missing riding and competing. I mean, it’s been a decade since I was on a horse in a show ring, and I thought I was OK with giving it up. Turns out that really helped keep me sane.
Mr. Savy has the same ambition – literally, it’s why he became a rocket scientist. He keeps up on all the Mars stuff, and fully plans on trying to apply when they start working on sending people. I’m trying not to take it personally. 😉
What other things do you really want to do?
Ah man, you just missed catching a ride to the space station. Shuttle just left a couple days ago from here.
I’ll shoot you an email with a little more notice next time. Maybe they can stop by the moon. 🙂
It’s easy to forget to live life for ourselves. I hope you find the happiness you are looking for 🙂
Sounds like an excellent plan. Also, my step-mom works for NASA and I have a bunch of CalTech buddies, so I’ll work on pulling some strings. 😉
You can do that dune-buggy thing in southern Cal and avoid the whole weightlessness nausea thing. Steer clear of the aliens coming in from the south.
On the same page here. I’ve been looking at the past few years of what I’ve wanted to do vs. what I have to do and it’s a hard realization that responsibility goes to the front of the line before doing what I want to do.
For now, I try to squeeze in as much “me time” as I can.
A little self-love will go a long way.
Oh wait! That didn’t sound right!
I know what you mean. Happiness is an elusive thing and I’m still searching for something but what is it I really want? I hope you find something that makes you happy as it sounds like you work so much. And, I hope you can get some good sleep, insomnia is a bitch.
Yeah, hot fudge sundaes are the best. I’m into them lately too.
Well, at least you aren’t pre-diabetic!
A hot fudge sundae with whipped cream and toasted almonds on top beats just about anything else including a trip to Mars.
Excellent choice, Dave2!
that sucks. you do need “davetime”… well if you are ever in Fort Lauderdale, we can go get mani’s and pedi’s .. Oh wait.. that’s what I want to do.. Oh well.
I just want my flying car I was supposed to have by now.
Grown-ups are big fat liars.
I totally agree with S J.
Also, i am starting to worry that i’m suffering from anhedonia… even the fun things are not fun like they used to be. I have something that used to make me ecstatic sitting in the corner, beckoning me, and i feel like i’m too busy and have to get the annoying things out of the way before i can even think about it… and yet there’s always more annoying chores. Bleh.
Even dessert isn’t allowed for me anymore.
Well, balance is very important in life. For instance, the older we get, the more adult we expect we have to behave. It’s certainly important to be responsible and to spend a part of our time paying the bills and maintaining order in our lives. But if we lose sight of the joy and optimism of childhood, we age badly and bitterly.
We don’t have to accomplish all of our dreams to remain happy, but we do have to nourish some of them.
Hey, Calvin manages to go to Mars with his pet tiger Hobbes all the time. And he doesn’t even have half the experience you do. I’m sure you could do it too, if you tried!
🙂