Sunday 20 November 2016

Sunday Rambling 11/20/16

Random Sunday night thoughts;

I've hated Sundays for most of my life. It feels like the countdown to the start of the new school/work week. I always found that after about 3 PM I couldn't enjoy the rest of the day, because I knew I had to go back to the grind in the morning. Since I started changing up how I live my life, I've found that feeling slowly starting to go away. I spent 33 years letting my brain program itself like that, it's going to take a while to reset.

I turned 33 on Thursday. I kind of wanted to go to a couple comedy shows and see if I could land a spot, as I wasn't booked anywhere, but my girlfriend convinced me to stay home. We had some friends over, ate a bunch of food, and just played video games and hung out. It turned out to be a really good time. As you get older, the amount of time you have to spend with people gets smaller. Be selective about who gets your time, but make time for the people that don't suck.

I thought 30 kind of sounded old, but 33 doesn't seem like a big deal. I don't think the numbers will really sink in until 40 now. All things considered, I think I'm pretty happy with what I've accomplished since 1983. I'm not a Ghostbuster like I originally planned, but things could be a lot worse. I have a great girlfriend, a house, good friends, and a supportive family. I could count my real problems on one hand. Life is good :)

Things are going way too well for me in Fantasy Football this year. I'm in 1st in both of my leagues, and right in the hunt of my two pick 'em pools. I expect the boom to drop any day now....

I don't spend much time watching sports anymore. I still catch Sportscentre almost every morning (NOT Sportsnet Central, seriously, how much does Sportsbet suck?), but I stay too busy to have any time to sit down and watch a full game these days. Luckily, Carey Price makes it so you don't have to watch the Habs games anymore. I'm embarrassed to admit  I was pissed when the Habs traded Halak for Eller instead of Price....

I published episode 5 of the Comedy Odyssey today. Listenership has been up and down, I'm still really trying to find my way with podcasting. I really enjoy recording them. Editing them kind of sucks. The feedback, good and bad, from those of you that listen has been very much appreciated. I don't plan on quitting anytime soon. It's really a different experience learning how to do something in front of people instead of in the privacy of a classroom or your house. I think, like stand up, it motivates you to work harder at it, so people can see you're improving. Or at least trying to, anyways.

Signed my first "contract" (?) for stand up tonight. It's just for a one off spot at a show in December, but I still thought it was pretty sweet. Every month it seems one or two cool things happen to me in the comedy world. Not knowing what's next keeps you moving forward when things go wrong. 

I've had a couple rough nights in the last month. Nothing crazy, but I've lost my focus on comedy, and had a couple moments where I caught myself asking, "why am I doing this?" I take it really seriously, and sometimes I think I let myself forget that it's supposed to be fun. I need to remember to just take a step back and look at it as an adventure. Not knowing what's around the corner is what makes it so fun. When I hit a point where it isn't fun anymore, I'll quit.

If you've ever sent me a nice message, come out to one of our comedy shows, listened to my podcast, or read this blog, thanks for supporting me. I don't know if or when this ride will end, but I'm glad you want to take it with me. I hope we end up somewhere nice.

Adam


Wednesday 9 November 2016

Don't let anyone tell you what to do 11/9/16

I posted this on Facebook a few months ago. I think it still hits home:

"One of the guys I work with, probably the dude I like the most there, had his first child this week. Wednesday, his wife went into labour. And he was still working. I told him to get the hell out of there and get to the hospital, and he said we were too busy, and he'd go when he could. That's exactly what's wrong with society today.

Everyone has their own priorities. And if someone disagrees with yours, to hell with them. I think you probably spend the first 25 years of your life laying the foundation of that list, and then you tweak it as life goes on. I know for a fact that my buddie's family was a much higher priority to him than his work, but he felt obligated to stay. That's not being honest to yourself. Do what you want, what makes you happy. 

A few years ago, I wasn't doing that well. Shay and I had just bought our house, we had some money. Health. No worries. But I didn't feel right. Like I was just going through the motions, wasting time. I made a very conscious decision to start eliminating things/people that I weren't making me happy, and to start cramming as much positivity into my life as possible every day. I quit a very good paying sales job to go do something that I thought would be more fun (and it was), and I started phasing some people out of my life. I just decided I didn't want to be around them anymore. If anyone ever feels that way about me, I would hope they'd do the same. And it worked. I feel much better about life these days. I'm very happy.

I read something around that time that said "there is endless power in giving zero fucks." It's not the classiest sentiment ever, but it's spot on. I used to want everyone to like me. Now, there's a very small group of friends and family whose opinions matter to me very much, and if you're not in that circle, I don't really give a damn what you think. If I'm not hurting you, just let me do what I want. 

My current job demands a lot of hours from me, I work 55 or so in a 5 day a week, plus some weekends. I don't like it, but as of now, I've accepted the trade off, they get my time, and I'm happy with the money they give me for it. But if that job ever tries to overtake something that I feel is a higher priority (and there are a lot of them), then they'll quickly find out I won't be there anymore. It's a humble brag, but anyone that has worked with me would be quick to say that I'm a pretty hard worker (I think, anyways), and I do my best to help the team and pull my weight. But I've also switched jobs 4 times in about 12 years. Once because I felt they were trying to become to work their way to the top of my priority ladder, once because I just wasn't happy anymore, and once mostly for financial reasons. And even though the job I have now is very secure and well paying, I have no hesitation to quit, and no worry of getting fired, if it ever isn't a fit anymore. Because I just don't enjoy working. I like things that I find fun. And I wasn't out here just to let someone else tell me what to do all my life.

The moral of this ridiculously long post is that your life is a dictatorship. You call the shots. The only people that can get into your board of directors are your family, and your close friends. And that's only if you deem them worthy of a chair at the table. If someone doesn't like how you're running your business, then don't do business with them anymore. You have 24 hours a day to spend on anything you want. Don't let anyone spend even one minute of them for you."

As you probably know, I did end up walking out of that job at the beginning of October. I wasn't happy there, and my girlfriend and I decided the money wasn't worth it anymore. I wasn't sure what I was going to do, but the universe picked me up and led me to something better. I don't make the money I used to make, and I was 10 weeks away from a $4000 bonus, but I don't care. I will never, ever, do something just a paycheque again. If I don't want to do something/be somewhere, I won't do it/be there. Taking control of your life is the single most empowering feeling in the world.

I don't know what the meaning of life is. To be honest, most the time I really don't think there is a point. In the grand scheme of the universe, we're pretty insignificant. And that's fine with me. I'm going to just stand over here and do whatever the fuck I want for the rest of my days. Watch what you want to watch. Listen to the music you like. Eat whatever you want to eat. Do what you want. If you're miserable, but you're letting someone else make you feel that way, well, that's your problem.

-Adam