Jan 7, 2022
I was sitting on my patio in Canada, in January. It was freezing. My cup of coffee, which had been warm and toasty just 5 minutes earlier, was now frozen into a block of brown ice. It made me sad to see this and I began to cry. My roommate came outside to smoke a cigar. He saw me screaming sadly into my hands.
“What’s happened to you now, buddy?” He asked, sounding concerned and surprised.
“My coffee has become a chunk of brown ice! I can’t take this climate any longer! Why would anybody build a civilization so far north??”
My roommate shook his head in understanding and lit his long, cuban cigar. He puffed on it contemplatively, then said, “Why don’t you book a flight to Greece? I hear that they have warm weather all year round!”
“All year round?” I asked in disbelief. “Even on Christmas?”
“That’s right,” answered my friend. “The people of Greece enjoy warm hot sun during all months of the year. Book yourself a ticket tonight! What do you think of that idea?”
I turned from my roommate and stared at my frozen coffee. I went to wipe the tears from my eyes, only to find that they had frozen to my rosy cheeks. “That’s a good idea,” I shivered. “I’ll sell some of my furniture as a means of getting enough money for the ticket.”
My roommate nodded, as he took another long drag from his cigar. “Now you’re thinking. Please, send me a postcard when you arrive.”
“I will, buddy, and if I have enough change I may even send you a traditional Greek bottle of wine!” I declared, as I stood and walked back towards the house.
“Thank you,” said my friend as he bowed in gratitude. He sat down on an ice covered chair and finished his warm smokey cigar.
I think that I’m generally more optimistic than pessimistic. Sometimes I wonder if it’s naive of me to be that way. Oftentimes I’ll hang out with friends and we’ll be talking and the conversation will drift towards problems in the world. Sometimes we’ll talk about things that bug us or which celebrity we currently hate. I tend to get kind of quiet around these conversations. It’s not that I don’t recognize all of the suffering and pain and injustices going on. I just find that it doesn’t seem to be as constructive as it might seem. Talking about negative aspects of the world can be done in a positive way. I think that it can be fun and exciting to talk about people who are working hard to improve things. I don’t like to get all preachy when I’m around my friends though. I don’t ever say to them, please, can we talk positive and in a constructive manner? I don’t say this, mainly because I don't want to seem naive, so instead I’ll try to subtly steer the conversation in a positive way. I should also say that I give this kind of reminder to myself. It’s easy to notice when other people are doing it, but sometimes hard to notice when I'm doing it quietly in my own head. When i catch myself complaining or feeling defeated I’ll do my best to just let myself know that there are always a solution to every problem. The solution may not be easy, in fact it might be unbelievably difficult, but a solution does exist.