No Baby Buzzkills

one You can agree to disagree about things that you believe with people who are in your orbit and it's okay. It's not a contest and you don't have to be emotional and undone. It really is all good and, if you enjoy that person's company, you just agree to not discuss that thing anymore. You can figure out pretty quickly how somebody feels about something and if it's not what you believe and you really like their company - just ssshhhhhhhh.

two Be real. Get real and stay real. Don't say one thing and do another. If you think you are super-duper smart or religious or political or physically fit or philanthropic - just be those things and don't devalue them by telling anybody about it. If you're doing it right, everybody will know. When you talk about it, it makes it seem like you are insecure and

doubtful enough as to need somebody else's approval. You don't need that; You quietly got this.

three Please don't be a buzzkill, baby. I know it's hard to grow up or eat vegetables or attend things you didn't dream up, but you have to suck it up sometimes and act like you're happy anyways. You don't have to act happy all the time, that would be wickedly mean and ridiculous. You do have to have manners and know when to use them. If there is any doubt, feel free to read any one of the hundreds of short, sweet little bites of etiquette I have already shared here. I wouldn't have written them if I didn't love you.

© 2015 moemasters thesethreethings

it's all about you, baby.

one Learn how to be real with yourself and don't over-commit. You are never going to be able to make all the people happy all of the time and the more you try, the more jacked up your life will become. It's not easy to prioritize, but it's absolutely necessary. When you learn how to identify what is really (seriously) important and what is not, you will probably find that everything works out much smoother and you'll like yourself better.

two Have limitations to what you'll do for others. The more you give of yourself, the more people will come to expect. And then, when the day comes that you don't even have enough of yourself left for you - everyone who has come to rely on your diligence and attention will be all the way angry and disappointed in you because you let them down by not meeting their unspoken expectations. Learn how to draw lines in the sand and stop yourself from wanting approval so badly that you'll do dang near anything for somebody else.

three When you get on a commercial airplane they always do this spiel about how if the plane's going down and you have a shorty with you, you should always put the oxygen mask on your face first. I think the logic here is that you'll be of no use to anybody if you die while trying to make sure they live. Make sure you take care of you first and everybody else right after that.

copyright 2010 moemasters thesethreethings

BONUS FOURTH THING If you think you need to climb up that tree, you'd best have a solid plan to get yourself back down. Don't be getting all skidgy and whiny once you get up there as high as you can go and be expecting somebody to help you get down. If you were able to get all the way up that tree, you can bet your bottom dollar that you'll get your own bad self back down. (This can be metaphorical and applied to any number of different things for the rest of your life.)