It's not that Serious

"I expect to maintain this contest until successful, or till I die, or am conquered, or my term expires, or Congress or the country forsakes me..." Abraham Lincoln--June 28, 1862 Letter to William H. Seward

1831 – Failed in business

1832 – Defeated for legislature

1833 – Again failed in business

1834 – Elected to legislature

1835 – Sweetheart died

1836 – Had a nervous breakdown

1838 – Defeated for speaker

1840 – Defeated for elector

1843 – Defeated for Congress

1846 – Elected for Congress

1848 – Defeated for Congress

1855 – Defeated for Senate

1856 – Defeated for Vice-President

1858 – Defeated for Senate

1860 – ELECTED PRESIDENT

Everyone should be familiar with the story of Abraham Lincoln's pursuit of happiness. This man was publicly humiliated for three decades before he finally became the president of the United States of America. Among his many achievements was pioneering abolishment of slavery.

This is not a history paper that was just an illustration of a determination that paid off in the end. For some reason I am always able to relate with underdogs and I sometimes try to reach out to them. Maybe I can relate to them as sometimes I have found myself loosing when I completely believe I ought to have won. I have also found myself in a situation where I am good enough but the only problem is someone else is just a little bit better. It bemuses me that some people think I always get everything I want so easily. Perhaps if I was in pursuit of such public conquests the whole world would know I fail every now and then. However I still do not think it would hit me so bad, I would probably keep trying like Lincoln. There would be nothing to lose except for pride (some would say dignity but I disagree).

One of my favourite phrases is “It’s not that serious” I say it so often and that’s because people take things too seriously. I remember saying it to a group member who was freaking out during a group project and she burst out “this determines the rest of my life”. I told her “how can it determine the rest of your life when it’s only 50 % of 20% of 40% of your degree” hahaha apologies to anyone who can’t do the maths. People close or even distant to me know that I am somewhat ambitious and well want to get good grades, but I never would let that kill me. She was shocked at my reaction but all I was telling her was to calm down, that as a group we were doing the best we could and panicking is just unwanted drama!! In the end miss drama queen calmed down and we got on with our work. And at the end of the project she thanked me for all my help and for saving the group by answering an unexpected question that was thrown to us by the panel. So much for the girl whose motto is “It’s not that serious” right?!!

Don’t get me wrong, things are serious but just not that! I generally avoid people who bring stress to my life, negative energy is toxic and I am not ready to be intoxicated. Downbeat people, Kill Joys, pessimistic people, off-putting people, running out of synonyms but you get the drift I am allergic to them all!!!!!!!