This is an update of an old MySpace blog of mine from years ago. I have changed drastically since those days, and my attitude has adjusted accordingly.
I look back on the days when I was capable of simply shrugging off anything, any situation, that most people would be infuriated by, and I wish I still had that ability. Stress, however, tends to add up until it culminates into a generalized sense of irritation capable of turning even the sunniest days into days that you just don't want to get out of bed.
I still hold to the notion that in order to be truly cool, you cannot care about anyone or anything. There should be nothing in your view that feels pressing, or stressful, or daunting, or nerve-wracking. You can never be in a hurry, you can never drive faster than the speed limit, and you never try to save time, because when you're cool, you don't care when or if you ever get to wherever you need to be. Being angry is NOT cool. If you're constantly irritated or infuriated, and you still think you qualify as "cool," I respectfully disagree.
So I now find myself in a position where I am forced to strike a balance. My life has thrown so many curveballs and excruciatingly stressful trials at me in the last four years that there is simply no way to shrug them off anymore. But that doesn't mean I'm willing to compromise my cool factor in my reactions to them. Sadness, anger, irritability, and the mistreatment of others are unacceptable in my mind. I don't care if thermonuclear holocaust is occurring outside my windows on every side of the house. I don't care if it scares me or stresses me. I won't show it. Nobody will know it.
Today, I hold within me stress and sadness that I could not have fathomed in 2006. I have more responsibility and more worries than I could ever have begun to imagine. But it matters not. You will always see me with a smile on my face and a friendly "what's up?" on my lips. If you walk into my office on one of my bad days asking me for help, you're gonna get it, and you'll get it with a smile, even if the sight of you bugs the hell out of me inside. A modern metrosexual male such as myself knows the value of a pleasant demeanor, regardless of how fake it may be.
If you have a chance, read the greatest book ever written, shown above. Even women can learn from it, and maybe you'll start to sort of understand that men, especially men like me, are more complicated than you might have thought. Enjoy!
