Every Story

“The life of every man is a diary in which he means to write one story, and writes another.”

~ James Matthew Barrie

Being in somewhat of a melancholy mood at the moment, this quote seemed quite suitable.

Most of us have certain expectations, whether those are expectations of ourselves or of other people—or of life in general. We have dreams and visions in our mind of what we want our lives to be like, where we want to go, or what we want to be. The stronger that image or desire, the harder it can be when we intend to write about successes and end up writing about failures.

Still, I think it’s good to remember that good stories need a little turbulence—as long as we don’t just lie down and let the story end anyway.

It also brings to mind the first few lines of a song from Disney’s Lion King II:

"As you go through life you'll see
There is so much that we
Don't understand
And the only thing we know
Is things don't always go
The way we plan"

Picture It

“As long as we treat him like a criminal, he’ll always think he is one”

~ Peter, White Collar episode 46 

We read about an experiment in psychology class where researchers studied the progress of students in two different types of classes. They told the teachers of one class that all the students in that class had been screened and handpicked, and were among the brightest students of the school. In truth, those students were no different from any of the students in any of the other classes at the school, and had been chosen pretty much at random. But after some time, those students that had been “singled out” did indeed begin to make remarkable progress. The teachers subconsciously treated them differently in accordance to their belief that these students were special, and this had a positive affect on the students’ performances.

This study and this quote remind me of how much we can be and are affected by how others see us—whether or not we want to be. Maybe that’s why it’s so hard to truly not care at all about what the people around us think.

It also makes me wonder what kind of difference we could make if we just try harder to see the good in everyone around us and keep positive images of them all in our heads.

In Ten Years' Time

“It wasn’t enough to be what you were. You had to be working to be something else.”

~ Victor, Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett

I was conversing with an old teacher of mine the other day about this over e-mail. It’s such a common question—where do you see yourself in, oh, ten years or so? And it seems like the “right” answer, or the expected answer, is always something other than wherever one happens to be now.

Of course, in many ways, that’s understandable. If you get asked this question at a job interview, people really want to know about your career ambitions, about if you’re thinking ahead and if your goals align with the job that you’re applying for. When people ask you this question in general, perhaps what they really want to know is what your plans are for your future, what your dreams are or your future goals.

It’s not about whether or not you’re happy with where you are or what you’ve got in life at the moment, which makes sense but is also a little sad sometimes. It’s like we’re not expected to be content with our lives. No wonder it can be hard for some people to appreciate what they have. So many of the words we use and hear everyday incidentally fill our heads with contrasts, comparisons, and dissatisfaction.

It’s great to strive for something more, and I’d be the first to say that we need to have dreams. But it doesn’t mean we can’t also be happy now, and take some time everyday just to appreciate the things and people we already have in our lives.

I hope I transcribed that quote correctly. I was listening to the audiobook for Moving Pictures when I jotted it down, and it’s not always easy to get things down word for word. I love a lot of Terry Pratchett’s work, so this blog will probably end up with multiple quotes from his stories in the long run. The mix of humor and insight in his books really lets us take a step back and contemplate the funny little things in our lives and about human beings.