Live With Your Own Damn Grass

"The grass is always greener on the other side." I wish you would just live with your own damn grass instead of fertilizing it and trimming it past recognition, spray painting it green, or wishing you had someone else's lawn. Don't pretend it's pretty, but don't imagine that it's dead. Live with your own damn grass, and appreciate that you have grass period.

Sometimes people get so distracted by keeping their chin up that they don't totally see reality. They don't like to admit when they are down, when they don't think things are going well for them, or when life just isn't as beautiful as it used to be, so they ignore it instead and "look on the bright side". For one thing, they think it looks tough to appear happy all the time. For another, sometimes I think they're frightened by disappointment, depression, and sadness, so they pretend it isn't there. They pretend they're positive, upbeat, and cheerful. They put on a front to make themselves feel better.

I don't like it when people say things like "I can't complain" all the time. Especially when things clearly aren't going well. That is so fake. And then they condemn the people who are depressed or just melancholy for being lost in their sadness or not being peppy enough. People think that drowning yourself in your sorrow is such an awful thing... Well, it is, but drowning yourself in happiness is just as bad!

In life, there is good and there is bad. It is inevitable that you will deal with each at one point or another. Maybe you'll have more of one than of the other, but that's just the way it goes. You love the good, and you learn from the bad, and then you love the good that much more for having lived through the bad. If you ignore the bad, you corrupt the good and make it altogether meaningless.

If I had a choice between optimism and pessimism, I'd go with pessimism, but I'd greatly prefer realism, which is most definitely the hardest to attain.

If some of that didn't make sense, ponder the parts that did.

If you're happy right now, stay happy. If you're sad, stay sad. If you don't give a shit one way or another, then perhaps you should re-evaluate your outlook on life. Above all else, just be real.

Treasure those around you. You never know when they will be gone. You never know when you will be gone.

Don't dwell on the past, but don't forget about it. The past is the key to the future.

Love everyone that you can, but don't expect anything back.

Be nice to the kid in the corner who is all alone. They might turn into the best friend you'll ever have.

Never rely on your looks, abilities, or possessions for acceptance and love. You never know when those things will be gone, and all you'll be left with is your true self.

Love yourself. If you don't love yourself, well, damnit, who will?

Take time out of your day to breathe.

Occasionally look on the bright side, but be careful that you don't blind yourself to reality.

Give someone a hug sometime. It might do both of you good. (And it might get you arrested.)

Right. Well. Had to end that rambling somewhere. I suppose bringing in a touch of stupidity would be a great way to go out with a bang. I don't know how much of that I stole. I just started typing, and it took off from there. To the best of my knowledge, it's all good advice, though. If you take it, and it doesn't turn out for the best, tell me, and I'll edit the bad advice out of this post.

Thanks.