One Guiness and One Gigantic Burger Later
Written by Kyle on Wednesday, January 13, 2010 in Korea, Republic of
Feelin' happy
..and I feel better. Sure, the burger wasn't the best that I've ever had and the Guiness set me back $8, but it was worth it. Ok, it wasn't only that. If that were the solution to all my problems, I would probably be overweight and drunk, kind of like a Homer Simpson. Here are a couple of things that turned it around for me.Feelin' happy
1. Don't Be Bothered By Unimportant Things
And by unimportant things, I mean work.
Listen: I'm a person who has always taken work semi-seriously. I want to be good at what I do. When I was a waiter, I wanted to be a good waiter. When I was serving popcorn at a movie theater, I wanted the popcorn to have the right amount of salt and butter. When I code websites, I want them to be excellent.
Now, I'm an English teacher and I wanted to be good at that. And who knows, maybe I am; I'm certainly not bad at it. I am, however, very restricted about how I teach and what I teach. I have little to no choice in what books or topics my kids learn or even how I teach them. I used to get frustrated that I spend most of my time getting preschool kids to memorize sentences about going to the dry cleaner. It used to annoy me when I have kids that still can't write their alphabet properly learning from books that are 2 grade levels above them.
But now I just think "What can I do?". I've said my opinion and it went over about as well as high heels on ice. Am I possibly ruining the foundation of a child's English languange aquisition? Probably. But, if that's what they are paying me to do, then so be it.
2. Writing it Down
Writing everything down in a previous blog really worked for me. After reading them, they all seemed pretty annoying, yet none were grave. That's when I realized that there is nothing permanently wrong with my situation. The perfect storm named Annoyance just blew through and now it's gone. It might come back, but just like the weather, it's not permanent.
3. Internet Videos
Say what you want about the internet, but it cheered me up. No, I didn't go to some weepy, emo chat group. I watched ridiculously funny videos. Who can feel sad after watching this:
4. All the Small Things
I'm breathing, I have a job, I have a home, I have an awesome wife, I have a bright future, and I have to wear shades (because of the aformentioned bright future). You know, all of the small things that we should be grateful for everyday. After doing all the above and moving some of the sadness clutter taking up space in my brain, I had some room to reflect on these things.
Ok, I put this last on purpose. Not because it's the least important, but because it is the last one that came to me. I'd love it if this were the first thing that came to me, but I'm still far away from achieving enlightenment, so I'll have to deal with it at #4.
In short, life sucks sometimes, but overall for me, it's not that bad. Or to take inspiration from Monty Python again:
If life seems jolly rotten
There's something you've forgotten
And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing.
When you're feeling in the dumps
Don't be silly chumps
Just purse your lips and whistle - that's the thing.
Comments on "One Guiness and One Gigantic Burger Later"
To quote Jimmy Buffett (as I am prone to do):
Some people never find it
Some only pretend, but me:
I just want to live happily ever after every now and then
It keeps me going...
Jimmy Buffett is probably a better choice for pick me up music than my choice of Rage Against the Machine. I could use some mellower tunes to help me out :)
Hey,
Been a while since I've checked up on you guys. Glad to see you're getting over the discontent. Hope your contract finishes on a good note.
As for Youngmi and me, we're still in Costa Rica and are not planning on leaving anytime soon. We've enjoyed it here so much we purchased a house. It's in a sleepy little town of Golfito on the southwest coast. It's on an acre of land with a seaview, but most of that acre is a dense mountain of trees, and the view is in the distance after climbing up the mountain. Still, it's nice. If you come to Central America again, you two are more than welcome here. We're going to try and make a living online. I made a website: www.translation4korean.com, and will make a couple more soon. If that doesn't work, we'll head back to Korea.
Keep up the good fight,
Andy and Youngmi
Yeah, Costa Rica! Ya, we miss Central America and are jonesin' to get back. We may choose Mexico over CA, though, only based on food alone. Not that I didn't enjoy the Costa Rican food, but rice and beans get a little old.
Good luck on the site! We'll send anyone your way that might need translations. I don't know who at the moment, but I've run into a lot of different people in my time. I might have to pick your brain about buying real estate some day, too....
Look - its the new Kyle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Tj9S8mU2t4&feature=related
We missed you. :)
That's what Bessie and I do at night now... :)
Glad to see that you are "perking-up" again. I had forgotten the Money Python ditty so thanks for sharing! The Kitty was priceless. Any time you feel disheartened again, observe what is going on in Haiti, not only for the inhabitants, but imagine if that had been your destination for volunteerism instead of Central America. Even with the lifestyle change and the restrictions placed upon you, Korea seems like Disneyland in comparison.
AAAH...BIG SWEET BLOG.
SAVOR THE FLAVOR OF EPIPHANY!
YOU ARE JUST THE MAN YOU DESERVE TO BE.
man i love the surprised kitty. it never gets old for me. good thing too. and I'm glad you're a bit more yourself again.
by bessie at January 13, 2010 07:47 AM