Positive Thinking in Summer '09

Every summer breeds a plethora of raging, crazy ideas for what one plans to do for the next 3-4 months.

"I'm going down the shore every weekend!"
"I'm getting fucked-up in every single one of my friend's houses!"
"I'm going to road-trip to see America's largest ball of yarn!"
"I'm scaling the Comcast Building with just a fisherman's hook and mint-flavored floss!"
"I'm going to have a job and make money, because my boss WON'T fuck me over in part due to my loyalty over the past three years of service!"

And, virtually every summer a lot of these expectations aren't fulfilled (Okay, the last one is just me being bitter, and this really isn't a thought that goes through many people's heads). Going down the shore every weekend? Might not work as family and work (if you actually have a job, because your boss didn't give you a lesson in the harsh reality that sometimes in this world, life just isn't fair - still bitter) commitments stand in the way. Getting drunk on all days that end in Y? Your friends, your wallet and your liver may not be able to handle that. Road trips? Gas prices are on the rise, my friends, and since you plan on taking all these road trips and not working, the not-making-any-money factor plus the possible admission prices to cheesy American novelties may come into play. I'm not even going to address the Comcast Building one, because that's just illogical!

The point being: most of us come up with these elaborate plans and end up being terribly let down when they inevitably don't happen. And then, we spend the rest of our spare time complaining how positively HORRIBLE summer and how absolutely BORING it is because we didn't get to grant our heart's every desire. We lament - via Facebook and Twitter, of course, because this is 2009 - how awful the summer of 2009 is.

You know what?

Stop whining.

Yeah, I'm talking to you. Shut up. I don't want to hear it.

So you didn't get to go to raging, backyard parties everyday and drunkenly sing "Never Gonna Give You Up". So you didn't get to travel across the state to see a house built by Frank Lloyd Wright. So you work a lot.

Stop focusing on the negative, and let's take a look at the silver lining.

1. It's July. You have two months left to make the weird dream in the back of your head happen.
2. Did you ever think that all that whining you were doing got in the way of making something good out of the situation? Maybe if you weren't so focused on the negative, you would be able to see the positive.
3. If you work a lot, think about all the booze money you'll have for the school year. Plan something with friends from work, as you all have the mutual hatred of at least one coworker/manager you can bond over. Or if the people you work suck, plan small things to do before or after work with other friends. No one goes to bed early anyway, and never underestimate the good times you can have with your friends simply by grabbing a bite to eat.

Most importantly, you're alive, well and breathing. You don't have the stress of schoolwork or any of those other trivial college things to bring you down. You have spare time to relax and tan. You are able to see your family with whom you're without for eight months, as well as seeing those friends who always said they would visit you during the school year but never did. The ice cream man comes around your neighborhood (that jingle of Pop! Goes the Weasel still perks my ears up). You can catch up on some T.V. you missed out on, or some books you were dying to read. You can take a nice, refreshing walk in the park or you can laze around on the sofa all day.

So stop worrying about fulfilling all of your outrageous summer plans. Relax, take a deep breath and chill out. Isn't that what summer is all about?