It's almost been a year since I graduated from college. I can't believe I just typed that sentence. It's true that my first post-college job isn't exactly traditional, but it's a job. I'm at work nine or ten hours a day, five or six days a week; I've got a group of colleagues; I've got to figure out how to live on a skimpy paycheck each month (converting my salary into dollars is downright depressing--it's well below U.S. minimum wage).
I've been a bit frustrated lately. I've been on great trips, met tons of cool people, and generally enjoy my job, but life has become pretty routine and a bit boring compared to college life. Each day is more or less like the day before it, and it has me missing learning and studying (I even had a strange pang to write a course paper--must have been something I ate). This feeling of mundaneness has had me down, but just this evening I watched a great video that changed my outlook. I realized that routine is a part of adulthood. Okay that sounds depressing. Adult life doesn't have to and shouldn't be a boring repetition of the same grey day, but a certain amount of tedious iteration is inevitable.
I've never been affected by this before, but Russia, of course, is a tough place to live. People are all struggling to get by, and the Soviet-era fight-for-everything mentality still reigns (people will shove you out of the way to get what they need in the grocery store, for example). Cashiers are unfriendly; the buses are crowded and smelly; and everything always breaks. If you let start letting all that bother you, you will get frustrated fast. It's very easy to let the general suckiness of this repetitive crap affect your mood. It's very easy to get self centered and frustrated. "Why the **** is some fat **** sitting in my seat on the bus?? I sit there every day." These are the kind of toddler emotions that start to take over when you let routine get the better of you. Little, mundane details start to frustrate and annoy. But every person has the choice to rise above the day-to-day slog and decide what we let affect us. Watch this video and see what you think:
I've been a bit frustrated lately. I've been on great trips, met tons of cool people, and generally enjoy my job, but life has become pretty routine and a bit boring compared to college life. Each day is more or less like the day before it, and it has me missing learning and studying (I even had a strange pang to write a course paper--must have been something I ate). This feeling of mundaneness has had me down, but just this evening I watched a great video that changed my outlook. I realized that routine is a part of adulthood. Okay that sounds depressing. Adult life doesn't have to and shouldn't be a boring repetition of the same grey day, but a certain amount of tedious iteration is inevitable.
I've never been affected by this before, but Russia, of course, is a tough place to live. People are all struggling to get by, and the Soviet-era fight-for-everything mentality still reigns (people will shove you out of the way to get what they need in the grocery store, for example). Cashiers are unfriendly; the buses are crowded and smelly; and everything always breaks. If you let start letting all that bother you, you will get frustrated fast. It's very easy to let the general suckiness of this repetitive crap affect your mood. It's very easy to get self centered and frustrated. "Why the **** is some fat **** sitting in my seat on the bus?? I sit there every day." These are the kind of toddler emotions that start to take over when you let routine get the better of you. Little, mundane details start to frustrate and annoy. But every person has the choice to rise above the day-to-day slog and decide what we let affect us. Watch this video and see what you think:
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