Humans— we are strange little creatures. We try to sometimes give advice— that often fails. We try to pretend like we are the exception to the rule— that often fails. We pressure others and ourselves— that often fails.
I have been reading Mel Robbins’ Let Them Theory and reflecting on the many moments in a day when I break this theory. We all do. I don’t know why it’s so hard to accept we only control one thing— our own life (and even that has its limits based on circumstances, at times).
Alfred Nobel is known for the Nobel Peace Prize— the Swedish chemist also invented dynamite. ⚡️
Perhaps lasting peace is only possible by those willing and ready to create a destructive explosion— maybe this is the only way it has integrity. Otherwise, it is just cowardice or an inability to act with a side of built up resentment. A postponed reaction, if you will.
As I have been reading Originals by Adam Grant, it seems it’s the disagreeable, those willing to confront and start fires with their personalities that become the greatest advocates and channels for change.
We shouldn’t lose our dynamite. Sometimes, the spark of dynamite is the path to a better tomorrow.
This is your PSA to hydrate your eyes, this winter. We don’t often think about eye hydration, but boy do we feel the dryness in the winter. Here in the city, the salt that gets ground into powder on the streets blows into your face every time the wind blows.
We slather on the lotion— don’t forget your eyes. It’s part of self-care.
There is a circus that does not travel. It stays underground, but it is anything but hidden.
Times Square station is like a collection of every performance you wish you hadn’t seen. How this group comes together and decides to split up into every corner of the station, while the rest of us run frantically from tunnel to tunnel, is a mystery. You know, the mysteries life is truly made of.
A woman dancing with her young child who I am sure is supposed to be in school, a man drumming on paint buckets while NYPD officers dance to the beat (I feel safer already), a woman who sings on a karaoke machine off key with the regular track (mic on full echo), the man who sings Spanish Christian music tracks from 2004, and the man dancing bachata with the skeleton.
It becomes a blur of noise and memorable faces as we rush from destination to destination.
I arrive at work, which happens to have musicians, and I lock myself in a stall to pee (because let’s face it, I always need to pee), and suddenly, a woman starts signing an opera in the stall next to me. Full volume. Could fill a theater. At this point, I am just peeing resigned, you know? There is no escaping the music. I wash my hands as I hear her warm up like she is Sharpay from High School Musical, laughing to myself. There is no quiet moment in this city. Not even when you pee. The circus doesn’t travel because it’s everywhere.
I was listening to a biohacker from Poland’s podcast (I really do like her), and she had on another woman from Eastern Europe. They started talking about how Americans are so encouraging and the acceptance of success that exists in the United States— even unmatched by Canada and Australia, in their experience.
After this, they went into almost a mockery of some things that make America, well, America and Americans, Americans. It caught me off guard. And listen— there is plenty that can be criticized, but what made me confused is that they were mocking the very things that make the life in America and the environment in America that they were praising, possible. They want the exact cake without the ingredients required to make that cake.
Sometimes, I think people fail to realize there are equations in life. If x, then y. Things render certain results. So you can’t despise communism and talk about how America is so different, but then criticize the very things that makes the American system communism-proof. The minute we lose those things, we look just like the countries you left behind, ladies, I wanted to tell them.
It’s a deep ignorance of how humanity and the world works. Nothing is flawless, but things have consequences. This is inevitable.
We recently started watching a series about American battles narrated by Kelsey Grammer. Just one episode in, and I have learned so much. Loving it.
It’s important to look into the past to see the courage and audacity that has led us here. What gives us the talk-back, brash, world-admiring, caring, scrappy, unfolding, optimistic and indomitable American spirit.
One gets tired of hearing people who come here for a reason, but then unload why everything here is so wrong. I think people owe the ideals and concept of America a bit more.
May we always remember x+y=z. It’s how math works. Our equation is different. You can mock it, but it gives you the very thing you desire.
This time, I wasn’t wearing headphones. I was walking, and I heard a small noise. I turned around and saw my wrapped cough drop on the cement. I was surprised I had been able to hear the small thump on a NYC street and that I had taken the time to turn around and see it. It was certainly mine.
Life is filled with small moments. Moments that can be fleeting, where we might miss something. Moments that we just might catch if we decide to turn around and look again.
“If you believe you can completely map your partner, then you do not really know that person. […] A real relationship is a wrestling match; it is a grappling phenomenon from which you both emerge transformed.” Dr. Jordan B. Peterson
The truth is none of us is static. We are ever evolving and changing. We contain multitudes, as Walt Whitman said.
Dr. Peterson reminds us to not settle for basic knowledge or boredom. Curiosity in life is key for success.
Life requires an affirmative action from us to grapple with things and each other. This evokes the image of Jacob wrestling with God, telling God that he will not let Him go until He blesses him.
Wrestling is a fight where you don’t let go until something is achieved. The goal and result being transformation.
I saw this quote, and I thought to myself— we often think “What’s the worst that could happen?” And sometimes, this is a good tool to spur us to action anyway.
But what would happen if we thought, “What’s the best that could happen?”
We have been watching hockey’s Four Nations Face Off (rooting for team USA, of course). 🇺🇸
Last night, USA played Canada. Canada booed our national anthem, and shortly after that moment, USA beat up the Canada team both literally (gloves off) and also, we annihilated them in the game. We are currently in the playoffs for the championship, and they are not. Ha.
You know me— I love a gloves-off moment. I love people who fight for what matters to them. Love that they kept it spicy. No one disrespects our flag.
Currently, Finland, Canada and Sweden are tied with two points while the USA has six. It’s anyone’s guess who will play USA on Thursday in Boston in the final.
The games have been fast-paced and wild. It’s a different thing when players are playing for their country and not just a franchise. You can feel the emotion and fight behind it. You see the pride reflected as they wear their nation’s symbols.
I think team USA will be hard to beat. Not only are they playing for country, but movingly, they are playing for Johnny Gaudreau, a player who would have been on team USA had it not been for the tragic accident in August of last year that killed him. They have Gaudreau’s USA jersey hanging in the locker room, and the players give it to the best player of the game after each game.
USA is playing for country, but also, playing for a friend. Patriotism and friendship are two of the most passionate types of love. This will be unstoppable.
Reading Jane Austen is upsetting, sometimes. The author had such a sad life, but she made sure to give her characters happy endings. It just isn’t real.
I heard recently that one of our greatest sources of unhappiness is when we fight reality. As humans, we do this a lot. We hold onto our thoughts and distortions like our life depends on it. What is revealed is that the secret to our happiness is in our expectations.
I loved the thought expressed here by Dennis Prager. I agree with him wholeheartedly. We don’t need to be shocked when things go awry. Life is made up of exactly that– when things go haywire. If it’s not wild– are you really living? We numb ourselves or keep ourselves in bubbles, but to be truly alive means to feel pain, to feel inconvenience, to feel devastation, and also, to feel joy. Living means you feel it all.
“I never expected a painless life. That is a big part of my happiness because you asked how could I be happy during those very difficult times. They didn’t shock me that I had them. People are shocked when things go awry today because they have been raised so poorly, by a stupid world of parents, stupid teachers, stupid schools, stupid media that have led them to believe that a painless life is possible, desirable, to be aimed for. Why do you think is it the lowest marriage rate ever in secular societies– only secular societies? Because there is no wisdom in secular society– none. It’s bereft of wisdom.”
Prager also states that wisdom is the key here. Wisdom only comes from God, scripture notes. As we mature and walk alongside God, understanding His wisdom, we grow to understand life a bit more (or at least to understand His sovereignty over that which we don’t understand). We learn to be ok, even in our pain and confusion.
We all need to learn to wrestle with reality less. We need to accept what we cannot control, and we need to stop expecting a painless life. We may think we don’t have that expectation, but the truth is revealed when life crosses us. Are we ok? Are we ready? Or are we expecting a Jane Austen book situation?
We need to raise our children to be warriors and prepared to face life’s cruelty and unpredictability instead of raising a disappointed and disoriented generation. We do the world a disfavor when we raise children who think life is a fantasy that caters to them. It renders an immature adult.
When we have realisitic expectations– when we accept reality, we grow in wisdom and can face life, in all its unfiltered glory, unfazed. When we are able to do this, we win. Winning is not the Jane Austen happy ending, but the one who stands to the very end.
GABRIELA YARELIZ 