Well, back from Australia. Time to cue the cheesy thinking sculpture? Of course. I Have been back here for about a months and a half at home, so I think now is about time to recap what I learned from the experience about women, being a man, and life. They are mostly simple lessons, so consider it a refresher for making your life a bit better.
1. 1. Do Not Take Life Too Seriously
Appreciate the little things in life. The other night I was working late at the golf course. It had been kind of a rough day, and I was exhausted. I went outside to pull some carts in, but paused for a bit to look at the sunset. Then it struck me that the clouds were brilliant tonight, the grass looked especially vibrant, and the wind felt cool and refreshing. In five second all of my worries from the day were gone and I was just there smiling at the sky. I had a huge smile on my face the rest of the night. Listen, life becomes a lot easier when you start smiling at things that frustrate you. Some customer asks the same dumb question every day? Laugh about their cluelessness. Of course, some problems need to be taken seriously. But I bet you can live about 98% of your life smiling. The best part of smiling is sharing it with others. Studies show that happiness actually comes from the outside in, aka your smiling face makes others have a smiling face, and vice versa. You know what they say, smile and the whole world smiles with you, frown a lot and you might as well be passing out flyers to others saying "I hope you have a bad day today."
2. 2. Women are Equal
I know this seems self-evident, especially in the world we live in today, but I still think guys have a problem of putting themselves about women. Well, after living with 20 women for five months I can assure you one thing, they are just as good as men at just about everything. Yes, men may be on average taller and stronger, but after that everything is a tossup. Women are just as smart, funny, unselfish, passionate, cool, and they are more mature. If you need any more evidence, consider that Harry Potter would have died about eight different times without Hermione. Case closed, equality wins.
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3. Your First Concern Should Be For Others. A.K.A. Be Considerate
Being in Australia made me realize again how much I hate selfishness. Prime example: While we were in Broome, a group of about 20 of us were being taught how to throw the boomerang. Problem was, we only had three boomerangs to practice with and a limited amount of time. After the first group of three threw, one person ran after his boomerang and grabbed it so that he could immediately try again. When asked to let someone else go, he said that he just really wanted to get a good throw. After the 2nd throw, he ran and got it again. My point is that in our society we get too caught up in our individual goals and end up limiting the opportunities of others. I’m not saying be a passive pushover, but I’m asking you to assess situations and make sure that you are bypassing more deserving people in your quest for self satisfaction.
4. 4. Be Generous
This goes strongly with number 2, but I feel like it is important enough to have its own category. Help others. Buy things for other people. Courtney Helmer is one of the best people at this that I know. Repeatedly in Australia she would buy a big pack of chips or cookies, eat a couple, and then share it with everyone else. People will appreciate it, and you will feel better for sharing than if you had eaten the entire thing by yourself. Also you will be skinnier.
5. 5. Get Away From Your Life, Travel, Live Somewhere Else
Australia provided me the chance to get away from my life in the U.S.A. and look at it through another lens. For example, we get to split tip money at the golf course, and I was always overly concerned about splitting it up right so that I got the money that I deserved. From the lens of Australia that just looked silly. Why was I so worried over a couple of dollars? I’m sure there are plenty left I need to work out, but Australia helped me see the conceited, selfish, or ignorant behaviors that I considered routine back in the USA and stop acting like that. I also experienced a new culture and learned a ton about my own culture by doing so. In that 4 months abroad I grew more as a person than I did in a year and a half at UP. Wild. Traveling is powerful stuff.
So that is it for now. I'm sure that I learned more along the way, but that is all that I'm going to attempt for tonight. I don't know how Rick Baleros does this every day.