Tall Poppy Syndrome?

Well hey there!! I thought I would come and update my highly anticipated blog, because you’ve all been waiting oh so long! ... *this is the time where I would put the hash-tag #blatantlies in my tweet ;)* But I did figure that, at this time of the year, it’s good to get out all your feelings. So here goes. Also, I have my iTunes on shuffle (how unusual... not), so I will update you as different songs come on. Just for shits and giggles. (I get the feeling this blog won’t be quite so formal as the others. I.e. I can’t be bothered with formalities, henceforth I’m going casual Friday ........ or Sunday)

[Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ – Michael Jackson] Firstly, let’s talk about relationships. I know I’ve delved into it before, but really, I want to touch on it again. Sorry. Please, please, please, please, times a billion, cherish the relationships you have. However, please don’t also be blinded by them. If you are in a relationship that is clearly not doing you any good, do something about it. I’m not just saying as in a partner-type relationship, but friends and family too. Everybody has different layers, but a lot of the time, we let other people hold us back from showing our whole selves. And what’s the point in having all these layers, or traits, or whatever, if we don’t allow them to break through? [Somewhat ironic, “I Want To Break Free – Queen”] As an Aussie, we have the tendency to cut down other people. “Tall poppy syndrome”, I believe is the common colloquialism (how I know how to spell that I’ll never know). But there’s a difference between cutting down a bloke who’s bragging about his latest victory on the field (or pool table... personal joke), and then holding somebody back from being their true self. It’s not always so obvious when this happens though. Sometimes, people quite obviously cut us down, bring us “back down to earth”, or even sometimes they hurt us which forces us into our “shells”. But other times, a constant negative or “downer” can really affect us in unimaginable ways.

It frustrates me so much [A Fight About Money – Powderfinger] that people I know and love have so much to give in life, and yet are being held back by other people; they aren’t happy in themselves when really, they deserve all the happiness in the world. It is one thing for us as outsiders to identify these things, but it’s a completely different - and big-time challenging thing - for these people to realise it themselves. This puts us as friends, family members, partners or whatever, in a very difficult situation; to what extent should we get involved in such situations? Is it even our place to say something? I mean, surely if we know somebody could be happier, shouldn’t we do something about it? Personally, I think these people need to realise it for themselves. I don’t mean that in a bad way, not at all. I think we should constantly support them in any way possible. But I think if they figure it out themselves, they won’t begrudge us for trying to interfere or anything along those lines. ... I’m hoping you’re catching my drift and I’m not digging myself a hole here. [Love to Love You – The Corrs].

What do you do to fix these things though? [Took some time to ponder here... Keep Me Hangin’ On – Glee Cast] Please don’t think I’m some upstart punk who thinks he has all the answers, I’m just a kid with too much time on my hands and who thinks about way too much stuff, and has dealt with a crap load of problems in my short life. As I’ve kinda eluded too, the biggest part of all this is to identify that these people are bringing you down. From there, it gets kinda tough. (ps: I’m not trying to tell you how to live your life, so please don’t take it that way :/ And I fully encourage your input/comments!! :) ) Once you realise what these people are doing [Mr Brightside – The Killers... man, this was my favourite song for a good 2 years or so. And my MSN name for just as long... a little somethin’ somethin’ for you folks out there :)], you need to assess the situation. You’ve got to realise what’s going on in your life. Talk to your friends and/or family, ask for their opinion. Often, if they are close enough to you, they’ll have quite a strong opinion on a certain person/situation, which might surprise you. But please listen to them. From there, you can decide what action to take. There are so many different measures in which we can take, from simply talking things through, to cutting people out of your lives. Far out, it sounds so drastic, but unfortunately, sometimes, that’s just the best thing to do. Trust me, I know. But let’s hope we don’t have to be so extreme. [You Don’t Scare Me – Josh Pyke]

Hmmm... On more thought, perhaps I won’t go into too much detail here. But to somewhat surmise what I’ve been talking about... They say this is the time of year where we should tell each other how much we appreciate each other. And we really should. But while you’re at it, look at your relationships, and how each one makes you feel. I know there are some people in my life who just make me feel so damned special that I can’t help but smile when I think of them. And everyone should have people in their lives that make them feel that way. I know we can’t have all perfect relationships, but we can try to have ones which are as positive as possible, and that means surrounding yourself with such people. [Little Black Sandals – Sia] Now that I have said all that, please make sure, you embrace ALL your positive relationships. Reinforce the positiveness you have by reminding people how much you care about them. Spend as much time with people as you can, surround yourself with your friends. Don’t wait until a gathering, or when it’s convenient, to talk to your loved ones.

In fact, I’m putting out a challenge right now. I want all of you to pick up your phone and send a text, phone call, or e-mail, write a letter, whatever, [Baby (You’ve Got What It Takes) – Michael Buble feat Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings] tell somebody right now how much they mean to you. It can be your partner, your best friend, your neighbour, your mum or dad, brother or sister, your cousin, or someone who you don’t speak to as often as you would like (that last one is my favourite. I love hearing from people out of the blue who I don’t talk to often). But with this one random greeting/thought, I guarantee you, you will make someone smile. And what does a smile cost? Not a thing. (Unless you’re sending a text, then it could cost you roughly 50c... or calling, then it could get a bit more expensive if you’re calling mobile to mobile... but I digress). [Stranger in Moscow – Michael Jackson ... Took some time to read over everything. Smile – Michael Jackson. Yes, it’s still on shuffle. I just have 81 MJ songs, which is quite a few considering I haven’t got a whole heap of music on my laptop yet]

I was planning on talking about a whole bunch of other crap tonight, but I think this is quite enough for now... Not that anybody really reads this anyway, but that’ll do for now, I think :) By the way, in case you didn’t pick it up, I am encouraging you to challenge yourselves, both on the inside and in your relationships, and seek to become the happiest you can be. Yeah, that’s right, I’m still encouraging you to challenge everything. You’ll learn to live with it ;) I guess I’ll sign off for now. Christmas time is over, and we’re all getting ready to ring in the New Year. I hope you all have an amazing time, but stay safe and sensible all the while. That’s not to say we can’t all go a little wild ;) Just be careful, and remember to look out for each other, and hopefully none of us will have sore heads the next morning :P [I’ve Got All This Ringing In My Ears And None On My Fingers – Fall Out Boy] So until next time, look after yourself.

L.L.L.