Just Get Over It By Patches

Editorial Comment: Here is a re-post of one of the most "ossimistic" dog's early posts. Ol' Patch had plenty that could keep her down ... but she wouldn't allow it. She spent a good chunk of her time trying to pick and prop others up! What a loving dog!!

Read back through the "old" articles and you'll see this common theme in ol' Patches posts ... she understood that life was real and had some hurts ... but more importantly, she understood that Life is REALLY, REALLY, REALLY good!!! Don't waste your time wondering about all of the "what if's" --- it ain't ... MOVE ON!!!

There’s lots of things running around this ol’ world that require some time considerin’ and some attention ought to be paid to fixin’ them. The above list just ain’t any of them (in my humble opinion)! That list is a reflection of life … not, much can be done to fix it now, is there? It’s done. It’s over![ii] Now, I understand that sometimes that’s easier said than done, but, you still gotta do it! Life does go on … and Life is Good! It really is!

Dad’s always telling his folks – there’s no reason to sweat the big stuff, since there’s not a whole lot that we can do to fix that (I mean, when was the last time that some big wig politician called you to inquire about the National Debt? … or when did Jerry Jones call for advice on the future for the coaching staff? I could go on and on with examples like this) – instead, you should focus your time and effort on the small stuff – that’s the stuff that you really have SOME control of and can possibly have an impact on its outcome. The big stuff is gonna happen! You can either run ahead of it, step out of its way, or get run over! But, I am willing to bet that you can’t stop it!

This is kind of like life in general. You try your bestest to control the little aspects of your life (and you should) and this will probably have some impact on life in general, but, when God shakes that big ol’ Yahtzee Shaker upstairs – all your plans can certainly change. That’s ok too! A good thing about BC’s (and most humans too, for that matter) is that we’re resilient. We can adapt. We can adjust. We can cope. The fortunate ones of us can even find that “silver lining” in the cloud! We can stay on the “Sunny Side of the Street”! So what I hope for, what I pray for everyone who is reading this … is that you are one of those that can take what life deals you, deal with it, and turn it into something good (or at least ok) … or at a minimum – I pray that you are able to “Just Get Over It”.

This is honestly written with the best intentions – I “just get over it” every morning when I wake up (my busted pelvis just doesn’t like February at all - when will July get here??!) – it’s not easy, but I’m sure that no one promised me that it was going to be easy when I signed up for this three hour cruise[iii]

[i] When you whine your problems don’t get solved because you are spending all your time whining instead of fixing. So the next time you are upset and are about to whine, do the following:

Take all the IF’s and BUTs out of your head.
Think about the situation and why it happened the way it did.
If another party was involved, think about the situation from their perspective. If another party was not involved, think about the situation from a neutral perspective (I know this is hard, but you can do it).
List out all the possible ways you can potentially change the situation to be favorable for you.
Try and fix the situation using one of the ways you listed out. If things go your way, that’s great. If things don’t go your way or if the situation can’t be changed, then learn from it and move on.
Life is not perfect and we all whine about things (even me), but you’re more likely to succeed if you think about things from a logical perspective instead of an emotional whiny perspective.

PS: Hopefully it didn’t sound like I was whining about people whining!

[ii] It is always good advice to accept things in the past that you cannot change, and that’s what this episode is all about! Don’t cry over spilled milk is an expression that warns against being stuck in the past too much.

[iii] Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip, That started from this tropic port, aboard this tiny ship. The mate was a mighty sailin' man, the Skipper brave and sure. … Oh ... I'm sure that you know the rest!