DK One

8th April 2001

Separation from the collective cures stress and addiction

Like Wes, work has become tedious of late. Luckily with the recent house move and various jobs on my to do list, I have kept myself busy.

The Chinese have a saying. “May you live in interesting times”.I think it is meant to be a curse. In other words, rather than having an easy life you have a difficult one.

I however, like to view it as the opposite of a curse, a challenge if you will. And challenges are all that I have endured recently. Things have been going wrong for me a lot but I’ve put on a brave face, seen them as challenges and met them face on.

Everyday problems like house maintenance, estate agents being lazy bastards and new white goods failing can be very annoying and potentially stressful. Especially when you place calls in order to get them fixed and the person on the other end gives off the ‘I can’t really be bothered to help you’ vibe. Yes, that can be extremely aggravating but what’s the point? Placing the scenario into perspective shows it is no major catastrophe.

Take a look at similar scenarios in your past. Something happened that you wanted resolving pretty quickly but company X is going to take their sweet time about rectifying it. So you moan and complain to all that will listen and your stress level rises a few points during the waiting period. As soon as the problem is sorted you feel fine and happy again and you no longer see red. But over that period you were stressed over nothing.

So I have decided not to get stressed out but to just think about these ‘interesting times’ and to find solutions and then to let them run their own course to completion without hosting to much stress.

So far so good although my new neighbour (a previous resident of hell I assure you) is pushing his luck with his loud walking around on my ceiling, and using his washing machine at 11pm. I think a word is in order..

As for Wes’s little confession. My own solution to net addiction was much simpler. When I moved to my new place I left getting a phone line put in until last. And now that I have worked my way down to it on my ‘to do’ list, I have decided not to bother. Why? Because I will only surf for nothing or play games over it. I tend to use my computer more productively when I am not connected to the net and therefore I think I will stay disconnected for a while.

So.. What to do with all this extra free time generated by not having a net connection or SKY TV? Well I’ve rediscovered books and music. And I don’t just mean listening to the latter. I mean I have finally decided to pick up my guitar after all these years. Maybe I’ll manage to play something this time around?

Thought Of The Day - "Machines are tools so make them work for you but don't let them control your life"

DK

Previous DK One:
12th March 2001
22nd February 2001
13th February 2001
4th February 2001
23rd January 2001