Sunday, August 2, 2009

(Almost) One of Those Days

An altercation at job #1 this afternoon almost ruined my entire day. Actually, I would have let it ruin the day. Fortunately, a little help from old friends brought me back from the edge.

There are certain things that make me see red and all rational thinking goes out the window. This incident triggered indirectly, one of those things. As I replayed the incident driving back to the apartment I began to get really angry then sad that I allowed myself to be sucked into such questionable behavior.

As soon as I arrived it was clear that the quiet evening I imagined was in real jeopardy, absentmindedly turned on the CD player and promptly stopped in my tracks. As if on cue, the song "Think about Your Troubles" (written by Harry Nilsson for an animated TV special titled "The Point") began to play, and being sung by Holly Near it forced me to sit down immediately and listen to the lyrics. Although I've known them by heart for years they took on new meaning and in context to the incident gave me a whole 'nother perspective.

Thought I'd share. I love Harry Nilsson:

Sit beside the breakfast table
Think about your troubles
Pour yourself a cup of tea
Then think about the bubbles
You can take your teardrops
And drop 'em in a teacup
Take 'em down to the river side
And throw 'em over the side
To be swept up by a current
Then taken to the ocean
To be eaten by some fishes
Who were eaten by some fishes
And swallowed by a whale
Who grew so old
He decomposed

He died and left his body
To the bottom of the ocean
Now everybody knows
That when a body decomposes
The basic elements are give back to the ocean
And the sea does what it oughta
And soon the salty water
Which is not too good for drinkin'
'Cause it tastes just like a teardrop
So we run it through a filter
And it comes out of a faucet
Where it pours into a teapot
Which is just about to bubble
Now....
Think about your Troubles

Thanks to Harry and Holly, I have reclaimed that quiet evening after all.

And so it goes.
*

1 comment:

  1. Loved the visual (picture) on your blog! Who was that, Tonya or Nancy?

    The lyrics to the song say it all. As you know I've been sucked (no pun intended) into similar situations. Some things make me see red (as you well know) and all reasonable behavior goes out the window. While those same situations will continue to make me see red, hopefully in the future I will have the presence of mind to realize in the whole scheme of things, it REALLY DOESN'T MATTER. All that matters is having a comfortable place to live, enough to eat, good health to enjoy it all, and, for the the lucky few, to love and be loved. All the rest is (as you well know) BS, not worth throwing a hissy fit.

    I'm glad you gathered your beads before they were spilled all over the floor and have recliamed that quiet evening after all.

    Now, you have to tell us....WHAT HAPPENED?

    ReplyDelete

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