Finishing out the year
Beth Sharb
Issue date: 4/23/09 Section: Lifestyles
The end of the semester makes us all want to roll over and die, and though I am not a procrastinator, I feel the same way.
It is always this time of year when the powers-that-be let decide to mess up everything that you thought was fine last week.
Not surprisingly, it is usually my personal life that takes the hits.
Last year at this time, I was preparing for a military ball and a trip to Greece. Both, as it turned out, were formative events.
Only now, a year later, do I realize how much of my identity had been attached to uniforms and expectations.
And only now, a year later, do I realize what Greece actually meant to me-which is a far cry from what it meant both before I left and immediately following my return.
The end of the school term, like the end of the calendar year, brings about reflections and questions about what has changed over the past twelve months.
Though I am preparing for my senior year, the GRE, and moving in with one of my best friends, the definitive point has been my overall realization that life is not a chick flick or a Nicholas Sparks book.
This may seem silly, and deep down, I suppose I always knew this to be true. However, I have actually learned it.
Case in point: if I see one more ad for Ghosts of Girlfriends Past with Matthew McConaughey, I will indeed roll over and die.
From what I can tell from commercials, a womanizer is taken back through his past girlfriends to realize he should be with his true love, who is-of course-marrying someone else.
Somehow, just like in 13 Going on 30, he finds a way to weasel himself to the altar. I already know how it ends up.
But the fact of the matter is that true love does not always prevail.
The guy doesn't always get the girl, and the girl doesn't always get the guy.
I feel compelled to cite the immortal wisdom of Win a Date with Tad Hamilton here: "Sometimes Goliath kicks the shit out of David. It's just that nobody bothers to tell that story."
Coincidentally, "David" in the movie definitely wins.
He follows stupid advice: if you don''t do everything to get your true love, "you are basically slapping life in the face."
Believing that Goliath not only can but often does win has become integral to learning that sometimes doing everything just isn't enough. Sometimes, the battle is too far gone.
Happy end of the semester, right?
bsharb@capital.edu
It is always this time of year when the powers-that-be let decide to mess up everything that you thought was fine last week.
Not surprisingly, it is usually my personal life that takes the hits.
Last year at this time, I was preparing for a military ball and a trip to Greece. Both, as it turned out, were formative events.
Only now, a year later, do I realize how much of my identity had been attached to uniforms and expectations.
And only now, a year later, do I realize what Greece actually meant to me-which is a far cry from what it meant both before I left and immediately following my return.
The end of the school term, like the end of the calendar year, brings about reflections and questions about what has changed over the past twelve months.
Though I am preparing for my senior year, the GRE, and moving in with one of my best friends, the definitive point has been my overall realization that life is not a chick flick or a Nicholas Sparks book.
This may seem silly, and deep down, I suppose I always knew this to be true. However, I have actually learned it.
Case in point: if I see one more ad for Ghosts of Girlfriends Past with Matthew McConaughey, I will indeed roll over and die.
From what I can tell from commercials, a womanizer is taken back through his past girlfriends to realize he should be with his true love, who is-of course-marrying someone else.
Somehow, just like in 13 Going on 30, he finds a way to weasel himself to the altar. I already know how it ends up.
But the fact of the matter is that true love does not always prevail.
The guy doesn't always get the girl, and the girl doesn't always get the guy.
I feel compelled to cite the immortal wisdom of Win a Date with Tad Hamilton here: "Sometimes Goliath kicks the shit out of David. It's just that nobody bothers to tell that story."
Coincidentally, "David" in the movie definitely wins.
He follows stupid advice: if you don''t do everything to get your true love, "you are basically slapping life in the face."
Believing that Goliath not only can but often does win has become integral to learning that sometimes doing everything just isn't enough. Sometimes, the battle is too far gone.
Happy end of the semester, right?
bsharb@capital.edu
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Cleveland Movers
posted 5/01/09 @ 2:03 PM EST
Interesting writeup. The realization that real life is not like it is in the movies is a difficult one, but it's a realization we all make at some point. (Continued…)
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