Loud Isn't What It Used to Be

I'm listening to Mötley Crüe belt out Home Sweet Home. It's one of the songs that immediately gets cranked up loud.

Old-People Loud, that is. Young-People Loud is enough to split my ear drums and make my chest pound visibly.

My kids like Young-People Loud right now. I, as the responsible, nagging mom, remind them they only get one set of ears in life.

But my words are wasted. They know it all already.

I remember knowing it all. Not sure where all the knowing went, but it started leaving around 23 years old and just kept on going farther and farther away from me.

Now, I choose loud every now and then when a great--really great--song comes on the radio or Pandora. It's usually when I'm dancing around the house cleaning or driving a little too fast down the highway. Or at the office. We all love the good songs.

Many times, I love the opposite of loud: silence. I love thinking space.

Being next to water is a great thinking space. Not silent but soothing, such as this recent trip to some falls near my house.

Pipe Creek Falls, somewhere west of Peru, IN

Or here's another relaxing place: the middle of the woods. This was taken on a recent hike with a friend when we went to the Salamonie State Park.

Hiking at the Salamonie State Park

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I had a birthday recently, or brithday, as I like to call it. My sister misspelled it one year, and it's become my favorite spelling of the word now.

Some of my sisters threw the sweetest surprise ice cream party for me that day. Pun fully intended.

Anyone remotely connected with my family knows about our love for ice cream. It's as much a staple as bread, milk, and eggs.

I felt so much love that day, not just because ice cream is one of my love languages, but the thoughtfulness and care that went into throwing the party, the homemade card, and the decorations that were up, all made for the sweetest brithday.

My favorite birthday card

And earlier, I was feeling more love from my office family. They are the sweetest ladies, and a couple of dudes, to work with. They surprised me with some gifts as well. I value their friendship the most, though.

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I'm recognizing the pattern in my life of a build-up of frustration that results in a big push toward something better. It's happened multiple times when there has been some big shift in mindset, in career, and in life.

While some might use that frustration as a catalyst toward something better, others may choose to stay in it for years on end, or indefinitely, then just become resentful and angry at the way life is turning out. But since it's what they know, they stay.

This is the situation I call familiar misery.

You cannot control all aspects of life; sometimes bad things just happen. They happen to everybody.

But if there's a frustration that is within your parameters to change, why not change it? You don't have to stay stuck just because the misery is what you know and are familiar with.

Change is hard, but just think where you could be in 1 year, 2 years, or 5-10 years by using that build-up of frustration to move you to a better place, whether that's physically or just a better place in your head through a mindset shift.