So, I just left Dunkin Donuts. I got Maeve girl in the back. We went grocery shopping. We are going to a Lobster Fest today. It’s my brother’s birthday. I’m gonna make some brussels sprout and some turkey bacon, we got all that stuff. Got some stuff for the house.
And I was jonesing for a cold brew so I went to Dunkin Donuts. Line was crazy. Drive-through was absolutely crazy and so we went in and that went in forever as well. Seems to be like the deal these days- everything takes forever. But what are you gonna do? No one wants to work. Every business is spread thin with employees. So gotta feel for the businesses.
But in any event, I got a cold brew and I like immediately regretted it. As soon as I take the first sip, “Ugh this tastes like dog shit!” Because like, Starbucks cold brew? Amazing. Dunkin Donuts? Eh. I normally get a shot of espresso in it but UFC is tonight, so I’m gonna have espresso later on so that I can watch it. Otherwise, I will fall asleep and you’re probably wondering what the hell is the point.
Well, let me tell you the point. The point is that there are little opportunities like this and this is like the smallest dumbest shit ever, right? But it’s just like if you can just start to look at these types of little things that happen in our life and start to reflect on them, and be aware of them. When bigger things happen, you almost like condition yourself. It’s literally like conditioning and it’s like conditioning.
In other words, what I’m saying is you have those small bits of ‘I wish something went different from what it was‘ ‘I wish my coffee tastes better than it does’ If you can just pay attention to that and observe that feeling. Cause a lot of us oftentimes we’re so damn busy, things happen that were like, “This sucks! I wish this was different. I wish this was better.” Whatever it might be. And then, we kind of got to let that sort of resonate and just stay in our brains and then it sort of lends itself to the next thing that we wish was better, and it kind of goes on at that cycle.
But when we look at these things as opportunities, say, first of all, it’s a fucking coffee big deal- not a big deal at all. So that’s good. But then secondly, we can start to say, “Alright! Well, I’m just gonna, I’m aware that next time I’m gonna do something different but right now I can’t control it, and here’s where I’m at. And so, it’s just this exercise of letting go. It’s like you go out to dinner, you wait all week to have a really good meal and you get it, and it’s shit or the service is bad.
These are all opportunities for us to say, “Alright! This is what it is, and am I gonna let this bother me? Am I gonna give my power up to this situation? To this person sometimes we’re just dealing with people who are just really angry or mad or whatever. And look, I ain’t mother Theresa. So I’m not sitting here and trying to say as if I bet a thousand at this. I don’t at all.”
What I can tell you is that the reason why this conversation is even happening is because it’s something I’m trying to be more aware of because I spent a lot of my life getting worried about things that I could not control. And again, this is as stupid as coffee but it’s as big as global politics and all the serious things that are going on in this world. And when we start to focus on the things that we can’t control and just let our minds stay there. It’s not that you should just like being different, not have an opinion or not care.
No, I’m not saying that. But what I am saying is that start to pay attention to what’s occupying your mind and if it’s something that you cannot control, is it something that you really wanna allow to continue to do that? Or are you able to shift your thoughts? And just sort of practice to let it go because it’s uncomfortable to let things go whether it’s a fight with your spouse, whether it’s a performance that didn’t go your way, whatever it is, something at work.
It’s hard to just let it go and move on. But the more we practice that with dumb things like coffee and other things that happen throughout the day the more resilient we’ll get when bigger things don’t go our way. It’s just an exercise, it’s a practice. it’s just an ability to say, “Okay, this is what it is, and I feel how I feel but I’m gonna choose to move forward because this is not a good way.” You know, I have this little girl in the back seat, her, being like in our life, it’s just her. And it started with our dog but it’s just one of those things that just always brings you back into the present because whether they’re being cute as hell and they’re just fun or they’re just being kids, and you gotta be a parent. Either way, it brings you into the present moment because you’re dealing with whatever that is and I think that is powerful.
So what I’ll end with is this, practice letting go of dumb things and like start with the dumb things cause if you start doing that it’s more likely when you deal with bigger issues you’re gonna be more resilient, you’re gonna be conditioned to handle these things better. And that’s as simple as that, and yeah, you’re never gonna bet a thousand for any of this stuff and so don’t even try.
But let yourself be human but also let yourself be a student of life and let the world teach you as much as you can. If you’re open, if you’re looking for opportunities for growth there is no shortage of them. So take the onus and the responsibility on yourself to seek those opportunities wherever they might be.
