We are reunited once again, and as always my darlings, it's an absolute pleasure. How are you all? I for one am very relieved and currently on what can only be described as top form! - my midterm exam is over (which went well by the way. See? I told you I would let y'all know how it went!), it's safe to say that the 'end of exam' feeling is hitting me big time.
Anyway, I hope you all had nothing less than a schamaaazing Halloween and are now fully recovered from the post-party hangover. What's more, it's now the 2nd of November, can you believe it? I sure as hell can't..where is the time going? I'll tell you, it's going somewhere very fast, too fast if you ask me. I very much hope that as well as taking time to relax and spend time with your nearest and dearest - each and every one of you is making the most of this fine November weekend as well as giving the month the good old kick-start that it needs!
Despite not being able to go out on halloween this year (I know right? Utter devastation) I am actually having a fabulous weekend and making up for lost time. Come Friday evening after my exam, myself and some of the Swedish crew (oh, and a Frenchman) teared up the town in Östermalm, one of my favourite districts of Stockholm - drunk is putting it lightly!..Go figure. As for today on this fine Saturday, the Swedish male bestie (oh I like the sound of that!) graced my apartment with his presence, over nothing other than tea and macaroons...stay classy ladies and gentlemen, stay classy! The person to your left folks is the man himself, Axel, to whom I will now refer as the Swedish male bestie. I put this snap of him in for two reasons, first of all, not only do I love this picture because it sums up his character and personality perfectly, but from a conversation we had today - I think we would all agree (apart from Axel himself) that he also resembles the epitome of a Swedish male - blonde hair, blue eyes, charming, handsome, stylish..you get the picture, right? (Oh, and for the record, I am actually being this nice. Axel did not pay me to write this about him!) The second reason why I decided to include this picture is because it actually proves very relevant to the point of my post this evening.
So, as I said, my midterm exam is over, a huge weight off of my shoulders to say the least (Axel's too) and I can't help but just feel, well, fabulous. However, after the exam was over and I was getting ready for what was to be a great night ahead, I realised something more and more, one thing that i'm terrible for.
Anyone that knows me well will say that one of my biggest negative traits is stressing. I am the king (some would say queen) of stress. Everything stresses me, little or large, being the person that I am, I can (and will) always find some sort of stress to pick out of a situation when there is absolutely no need to do so. In the week running up to my exam, I reassured myself that it was of course only natural to feel as stressed as I was. You can imagine the thoughts I had to myself whilst aimlessly sitting over my desk..."it's an exam Lyle, if you weren't feeling stressed there would be something wrong." You know what I mean though, right? It's the feeling of wanting to do well combined with the thought of "oh god, do I know enough" that haunts you every dawning day until the looming time is upon you...horrendous, utterly horrendous.
So as I sit here typing away at 11.22pm in the Swedish capital, the rotating system of one sip of earl grey, the next a spoonful of Ben and Jerry's in full swing, I've decided that i'm going to try and work on this bad trait of mine.
Confucius once said that "the man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones." My point? Well just like anything, the exam came, passed and here I stand (well sit, actually) writing this to you all now. I didn't die, I got through it, it was okay and it's now over. I've taken countless exams in my lifetime and yet everytime a new one is on the horizon, I continue to work myself up to the same high-heavens with stress and anxiety as if it were the first. Not good. Why do I do this to myself again? I don't think i'll ever know...
As I sat with Axel today having a great time (who can pick some great flavours of macaroon by the way), it made me appreciate the many things I take for granted far too often - little things, things we would almost class as insignificant and not really important. But yet i've come to realise after today that in fact, wait, they're so important...I guess what i'm trying to say is that no matter how much we stress, worry, panic and generally freak out over things, it's not going to stop them from happening or slow down their approach. Although things like exams may seem a 'mountain' in the distance that one will never climb, the summit will be reached and you'll come right back down again as if nothing ever happened. Removing the small stones, preparing well, not stressing and being in a relaxed state of mind is how I should have approached this situation - if I did this, I would have looked like Axel does in his picture above, nothing other than the old 'triple C' - cool, calm and collected. Just fabulous.
That big quote I have at the top of my blog? Yeah, I should really take more note of that myself. What is it again? Oh yeah, "as is a tale, so is life. Not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters."
I hope the rest of the weekend is a fruitful, stress-free and above all, spiffingly-good time for each and every one of you! Remain in the 'triple C' frame of mind guys, it's the way forward.
Oh, and keep carrying the small stones.
Speak soon.
L xo
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