On Quotable Quotes

To begin, I remember hearing a rather weird quote from a talk show program in the early '90s of a particular radio station. To paraphrase, the guy said that, "If you aim for the roof, you fall on the ground. But if you aim at the sky, you fall on the roof. So aim high!" This quote never made sense before, and it continues to baffle me up to this day as to why some guy would even coin such an asinine quote.

Let's analyze for a second. If the man falls on the ground, he would most likely break his bones at the very worst. However, if he falls on the roof, his body would pass through the steel (ouch) and come crashing down the ground(double ouch). The moral of the story? Never use houses and ground as an analogy to setting your goals.

Now, onto the gayness!

For years, I have dedicated my life to a simple saying, "The trick is to not care." Regardless of how pessimistic the quote may sound, I can honestly say that it has served be well throughout the times I was using it. In fact, the quote was never meant to be used in a negative way. For instance, I failed in a exam. Bah, who cares? I'll just ace the next one. Another example, a girl who I liked fucked me up big time. Screw that! I can get my nookie from someone else. In essence, the quote serves to see something positive from an awful situation by acknowledging the said incident and downplaying its effect to keep one from getting too absorbed with the failure. By not caring about my mishaps, I continue to act as a functioning human being.

However, ignoring feeling is one of the most difficult things that a person can actually do. I have seen people appear fine and dandy after a break-up or rejected from their job application, but they're obviously rotting in their core. I was rotting in my core for years by keeping inside bad feelings and disappointments towards people and things I cannot control. Those unspoken black emotions have become part of my character, which is why, for all my good nature and pleasant demeanor, I am essentially a sad and prosaic person.

Almost a year from now, I remember "giving" the quote to my officemate during her time of duress. I don't own the quote anymore (not that there it any owning in the first place) because it's not for me anymore. It has done me good, but it's probably time to move on into something much grander quote. What that is, however, is beyond me.