I’ve finally (well, it’s been 3 days) found a new series to immerse myself in between breaks on Hulu +: ENDGAME.
First, I totally love both Vancouver and luxury hotels (and LUXURY itself), and since Susan and I have our own detective agency going, except for being a chessmaster and an agoraphobe it’s pretty much MY STORY.
Today was a totally spectacular day in so many ways.
Belle woke me early for a walk and then I returned to bed to sleep later than I usually do.
I spent time not only planning out the week, but also acknowledging myself for all the accomplishments of the last 7 days.
I started out thinking “I guess a few things have happened this week, and I can recall one or two of them” but then I realized it’s been full of major breakthroughs and landmarks.
These range from my producer loving the 1st 25 pages of the script, to creating the new coaching program on this website, to getting my first Platinum Client, to announcing and visiting the curator Cavallo Point, to increasing my mailing list dramatically by absorbing all sorts of contacts I’d forgotten about and on and on.
When I posted this on The Miracle Of Money Facebook private page, I had this feeling of waiting for the other shoe to drop –– “I wonder who will enrage me with their comments to this post?” or vice versa –– and sure enough it didn’t take long at all …
But first and foremost, let me focus on more to appreciate:
A triumphant beach walk with Belle where we ended up with five AMAZING sticks for future tossing. This is actually quite significant as sometimes there are no sticks on the beach or she loses them all in the tides or the sticks we find are sad and not the right weight or length. Today, however, all five take-home sticks were simply MAGNIFICENT.
Then we returned home to a PARKING MIRACLE: Susan’s car, and the neighbor’s car, and my car all found adjacent spots side by side. It’s truly transcendent, an utterly incredible Parking Trifecta. (And honestly, if you’ve ever tried parking on Telegraph Hill, you’ll understand what I mean completely.)
And then a soaringly great dinner with my Platinum Client that I think left us both inspired for what’s ahead with her fabulous project.
But then I saw some of the Miracle of Money postings, and while I got some sweet congratulations, lots seized on how I’d increased my mailing list and how they could do the same, and then began quoting marketing experts about “opting in” versus “I don’t know what?” and … well, yuck….
It seems that while I really like some people on the Forum, there’s a very “Gimme!” energy to it all. I can barely post anything worthy of a simple “Congratulations” without somehow inciting criticism or competition.
It’s funny because I was thinking about these issues last night after watching DRIVE until 2:30 in the morning. [I had to do something to refresh my mind from the utter narrative negligence and insult to my intelligence of THE IMMORTALS –– although yes, the movie is GORGEOUS to look at; the visuals are obviously the only thing the director thought about at all.]
DRIVE on itunes has an extraordinarily high 94% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes from Critics.
Gosling is GENIUS in it. You can’t take your eyes off his every minimalist gesture, glance, or expression.
It’s true that after about 50 minutes the blood and guts count goes Through The Roof, but the movie is astonishing –– it won the Palm D’Or at Cannes –– although I do get why it’s not for everyone. Thus, the bulk of the 3061 reviews on itunes are five stars, with most of the rest 1 star. IE, The people who don’t like it, really HATE IT.
It was just another great reminder that not only can you not please everybody, you shouldn’t even try.
I composed a detailed response to the comment about my mailing list’s growth –– I’ve incorporated my facebook friends and some mailing lists of where I’ve taught workshops –- but then more or less thought, “Screw this. Why am I bothering to respond to my critics?” and just deleted the entire post. The second you start explaining yourself to those who really aren’t on your side, you’re giving away your power.
But still I wonder …
Why can’t the endgame when someone posts an obvious success simply be “Congratulations –– I’m happy for you” rather than “Here’s what I think you should do next” or “Here’s why it’s less of a victory than you think” or “Can you please clarify how this is going to help me?”
Wouldn’t it be enough if our endgame were simply … APPRECIATION?
That’s why I’m so glad I spend the time remembering and savoring all that happened this week before launching into Next Steps for this week (much less my usual “What Could Have Gone Better” conversation.)
And that’s why it was so jarring and unpleasant when I’m not met with the same.
So … to my own post I reply:
Congratulations on all my good news.
And thank you, I’m really happy for me.
Like Gosling, I just want to drive.
(Well, that, and savor my parking MIRACLES.)
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