Living Above the Crap

I like what Lucid Maxima said in her blog, "all I can say is that I refused to let him drag me down his downward spiral of gloom and doom".

This is something which I've been pondering about for a while - what I call, living above the crap. Most of us are very affected by the things around us - whether it be the environment we live and work in, or the people we have to interact with everyday, or even the alluring lifestyles and things we see in advertisements and movies. Our minds, values, emotions, moods are changing every day and every second, depending on what hits us hardest at that point of time. Sometimes it's an unreasonable client that has us frustrated and boiling mad; sometimes it's the Tiffany advertisement that has us lusting for what we can't afford; sometimes it's the people around us who tells us we need to lose 15 pounds. And I'm not sure why I behave like a dog, running to fetch every stick that people throw and orders us to run after.

Why are we so affected by things around us? Why do we allow people to drag us into their 'downward spirals of gloom and doom'? Why are we so vulnerable and susceptible to everything that comes our way? Are our values and principles so weak that we change our behaviour the instant we get angry or upset? Is our self worth and self esteem so low that we feel ashamed of ourselves the moment we see slimming ads on TV, or when some idiot tells us we need to lose 5 pounds? Are our feelins and emotions so susceptible that our days can be ruined just be a hysterical screaming client?

I'm still thinking, how do I live above the crap? If I don't do that, I'm going to be swallowed up by other people's crap. Yucks!