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I'm Team Jacob. Or, I Judged A Book By Its Cover.

"Good things never last, nothing's in the past it always seems to come again. "
-Ronnie James Dio



The other day I bought a book based on the recommendation of a close friend. The cover was an interesting picture that caught my eye. The title was fairly simple and the description and synopsis sucked me in. Then I read the first five or so pages and it sucked ass. I'm a regular reader. Helps me get to sleep. Keeps me engaged. I learn new words that way and sprinkle them into the blog sometimes. But this book did nothing for me. At all. I wish it had because the cover was wicked cool. But alas to no avail of my own I gave up on it. So what's my point? Glad you asked. Sometimes we are given an opportunity to experience new things. We are presented a chance to branch out of what makes us comfortable and that is a good thing. Trying new stuff gets you to expand your mind and teaches you more than you knew before. The book I tried wasn't bad. It just wasn't something I was interested in and the truth is I didn't give it a chance. That is something that I am chronically guilty of. Am I an anti-librarian ? No. Much tot he contrary I love the written word. But there are genres I don't get. Like espionage. And teen vampire fiction (team Jacob). And why am I not into them? Because I never read them. I never tried to give them a shot. So I can't actually judge them intelligently. The book I tried was by a popular author I had never read before. In five pages I wrote this person off as being derivative and I really should know better. But to err is human as I've heard said before. And I err all the time. But that's ok. I'm perfectly imperfect. Recently I've tried to be less driven to judgement on things and try to take things in the moment. I'm not really talking mindfulness here so if you're turned off by that stuff don't write this off. I'm going more towards the idea that each situation should be handled incidentally and not with broad strokes. Something comes up, deal with it using what you know now and not a bunch of hyperbole (like that word) and conjecture (impressed yet). So often I use preconception and assumption to dictate how I react instead of taking what I've got in front of me telling me all I need to know. Most people I find do that too. And we stress ourselves out by doing that. I bought the book based on what my friends said and when I read it I tossed it away and also allowed it to change my view of what that person reads. Which is stupid for a couple of reasons. First of all it's my friend who I've known a long time and we enjoy some things that are the same and other things that aren't. This person LOVES the walking dead and I tend to enjoy a show where things happen. (Kidding!) Secondly, you don't know if something is good or bad in the first few pages. You just don't. Movies don't typically start to boil until you're a decent way in. In a way I think I had a little bit of a deviant contrarian stance built up saying I'm not going to like this airport paperback bestseller crap and again that is a dumb mindset to have. One of my favorite authors is Stephen King. This book was by an author of the same ilk so I might just be a hater ( I hear the young kids say that). 
My judgements stopped do me from enjoying something. It's happened before and it'll happen again. Unless I'm careful with how I think or in some cases think less about things. My mind isn't always my friend and can get me into trouble. I think so much about so much that I drag myself down. I get lost in the chaotic netherworld that is my mind. I'm not talking sandworms or Lydia Deetz or anything but don't say Beetlejuice three times in there. It can get rough. Trapping yourself in over analysis and judging by assumption leads you to limit yourself. Take off the limits. We don't need limitations as much as we need boundaries. There is a difference and let me explain. A limitation is a cap placed on an act. The connotation associated with it is negative and leads to a sense of bad feeling. We limit the time to finish a test and thereby add a stressor. A boundary on the other hand gives you a framework to maneuver in. It sets up a sense of order that can be reassuring for someone who feels like what they want to accomplish is nebulous and vague. It's kind of a way of organizing and framing how things will go. Boundaries add comfort. Limits add stress. Simple right? It's the same concept as when someone pitching a diet instead says that we are "making better choices" (Kale) rather than " eating less shit" (Reese's peanut butter cups). When engaging in new situations go into them with an open mind. If you've already got a bunch of things in your head there won't be room for he new stuff. Ever try to put a pet-carrying crate into an overstuffed overhead compartment on a plane? You get my point. You're about to end up on a list on top of it all. Bringing an open mind to the table is much easier to live with. There's enough about life that makes us stressed, don't add yourself to that list. 

With that said I'm going to try to read this book again. This Waldo guy is so hard to find. 


See you Wednesday. 

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