Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Wreckin' Me Buzz

Hello. I have a rant today. It's an unusual one, because mainly when people rant it is because they are depressed. Well this is the opposite. I'm ranting because I'm not depressed. I want everyone to stop bringing me down and sapping all my happy buzz, just because it's flipping raining.

If you ride a motorcycle and keep arriving to work and home again soaked to the skin - ok, you're allowed to let the rain get you a bit blue (not literally I hope!) for a few mins per day.

Similarly, those who walk to work - bless you, I hope you have nice warm socks waiting for you at your destination.

For the rest of us who take public transport and drive sheltered vehicles, please STOP using the weather as an excuse to be a moaning old bag. Equally, unless your house is being taken off you by your lending institution, I don't want to hear any more complaints about the downturn.

I have met people whose homes have been flooded by the recent rain. And what is happening? They are rolling up their sleeves and getting on with it. Saying things like "It could be worse," and, "I'm luckier than some, you know."

Fair play to them. They're not curling up in a damn corner, muttering to themselves.

I have also met people who have no choice but to sell their property at the moment, the worst time to be selling in any Irish climate in the last 10 years. People who did not greedily buy up somewhere great in the hope that they would cash in on the Celtic Tiger a few years down the line. These are people who bought somewhere nice, modest and affordable as soon as they could. And now they have to sell up and go back to renting. Thankfully the number of people I know in this situation is still low, but they still have a damn smile on their face. Their outlook is something along the lines of, "Wasn't I lucky to be able to afford it in the first place?"

It just makes you want to reach out and hug them. I do, quite frequently.

Solidarity would be a lovely (alternative!) side effect to rain and pennypinching, rather than bitterness and grumpiness. When bad things happen in other countries, everybody clubs together to get through it. Teamwork! It's inspiring and to be quite frank, humbles me. Look at countries with real disasters - serious floods, earthquakes, even what happened in London on the Tube not so long ago - everyone discovered an inner strength that did not allow them to bring themselves down. We all know someone who was living in London in July 2005, we all spent a few frantic hours waiting to hear that they were ok. During my own relief I looked on in wonder at how the devastation brought the city and country together.

A few damp days, the climate changing and the economy slowing is making everybody miserable. Perhaps I shouldn't be comparing Irish mild flooding to those in SE Asia but I hope anyone reading can see that I am merely trying to put our own little dark cloud into some perspective. There is still so much to be thankful and happy for. Please put a smile back on Ireland's face!

And if you must continue to moan, please stop finding me - the chirpy one at the back - and taking all my smiles for yourself. That's just mean. I'll tell you how to do it yourself:
- Write down 5 things that made you smile in the last fortnight
- Write down another 5 things that you are looking forward to between now and Christmas
- Go away and think about those 5 things and start getting excited about preparing for them
- Call someone who is going to share one of these things and get excited about it with them
- Arrange to meet for said preparation, or just to talk about it in person over your favourite coffee/tipple of choice
- Now start sharing those smiles will you please? They're meant to be contagious...

HAPPY
happy
JOY
joy

4 comments:

  1. I love the rain-bring it on! I look forward to winter every year and the nights where I can lock myself in door, light the fire and stare out at the world.

    They say misery loves company and it's true.It's somehow easier to be negative than positive.

    I've been very lucky. We bought early and have a manageable mortgage. My heart breaks for people who are struggling to keep their homes. In some cases it's their own fault as they were motivated by greed thinking they could flip the property for a quick profit. A home is for life not just for profit.

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  2. Absolutely. I wrote something similar, but chose not to post is as it was a serious rant, with bitterness and bile dirtected at those who blame other things and people for their situation instead of just bloody getting on with it. Then I thought, feck it, life's too short for that sort of rant and pulled it.

    Rain happens, economics happens. Pick a dream and work towards it. Me, I just got series 5 of Northern Exposure, that's cheering me right up :-)

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  3. Ah yes indeed Lottie, rain and snow and snuggley jumpers and log fires and roast dinners and mulled wine ;) Me loves Winter also! I'm also a little wierd about the rain, I love lying in bed with the window open listing to rainfall, I find it peaceful.

    And Thrifty, I'm sorry I didn't have the strength not to post ;) I had to see what everyone else thought! Northern Exposure? Really? Ha!

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  4. Great post MJ. I have to admit I am a bit of a whinge bag when it comes to the weather but you've rightly put me in my box!

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