This post title comes courtesy of a young man in a plaid shirt and backwards baseball cap that reads, “Give Life to Your Story.” Definitely a thinning-hair hat. He’s no gansta. He’s sitting with two girls, possibly past their teen years, but not by much. They are deep in gossip about some poor woman who apparently, in the words of baseball cap guy, is “definitely not over it.”
You hear many stories sitting in Starbucks. Especially when your laptop is sitting in front of you, people seem to assume you must be deaf. My three pseudo-companions have been hashing over this relationship struggle for nearly half-an-hour.
Baseball-hat guy may be right. If you have to say you are over it, you are definitely not over it. How did you get to the point where you made that declaration, after all? You were ruminating. You were reviewing a sad past.
Watch for these sad past moments today. Just for today, leave them alone. Don’t try to fix or change them. But keep an informal count. How many times did you return to the promotion that should have gone to you? Or any of the many other issues that task us in our daily lives?
Rumination can wreck happiness.
Life Coaching Moment: The past is dead. Evil memories of the past are dead. Bury those sons-of-bitches. That’s easier said than done, of course, and you don’t want to discard the lessons of the past. But you can disconnect lessons from memories.
Yes, the evils of the past slip off their leashes. Pat them on the head, then put them outside, out of sight and out of mind. Distract yourself. Go build something. Bake a cake. Start a puzzle. Read a piece of fan fiction. Or just turn on the TV.
I would want my friends in Starbucks to be discussing my first Red Velvet cake, rather than my schmuck of an ex-boyfriend. In fact, I want to be so boring that no one in Starbucks dissects my life ever.
P.S. Did you get out the comfy slippers yesterday? I did. I am wearing them now and my feet are happy.
Zombie Phrase for the Day:
I need a recipe for blood pudding.
Ahhhhh ddeeeedd uh wehhpeepohhr uhhhhd oouhhdig.
