Surprise… it’s Tuesday. I slept in today (for me on a weekday). I woke up in my best friend’s apartment and, as much as I love my home and miss my Peanutty, I didn’t want to leave. There’s just something incredibly magical about spending time with someone who makes you feel nothing but good.
6 months ago, I called her and asked, “What are you doing on October 29th?” Knowing me for 18 years, she didn’t flinch at the thought of looking half a year ahead. She accepts my planning nature, much like I wouldn’t flinch if she called me and asked what I was doing in 29 minutes. She’s the free-spirit. She was the light even before I knew light existed.
I didn’t let the fact that it was a Monday night, a work night, a borderline winter night (I know it’s early in the season, but to us downstate people, you get a lot of winter up there!) hold me back. I saw the opportunity and seized it. I bought the tickets. Just like I dragged her to Mariah Carey in 2003, I was dragging Bestie to Metallica in 2018 (less of a dragging this time but she’s always down, no matter what). #MetInAlbany 🤘🏼
My message for you today: Do not someone else’s idea of what you should do when dictate your life!
We get messages all the time, based on other people’s thinking and patterns, their paradigms, of what we should and should not do. Very often, we follow those messages because that’s how society programs us. I could limit myself to those paradigms:
- Teachers shouldn’t listen to metal.
- You shouldn’t go out on a work night.
- Don’t spend your money on _______.
- You can’t like Metallica and Mariah equally (Bestie, stay ready. She’s touring again in the spring).
- Don’t travel without your spouse.
- Have a spouse.
But I decided, incrementally over the years and fully recently, that I do not have to seek the opinions and validations of others. Keep your paradigm if it works for you— I’m traveling 3.5 hours, seeing a metal show on a Monday night and taking a personal day from work to travel home. Don’t fret. You don’t have to follow my way. I already have a +1 (but there’s always room for more if you want to join!).
As I watched Mr. Hetfield raise his arms in the air after closing the show with “Master of Puppets,” I soaked in the moment with gratitude. Gratitude for being at a show of such magnitude. Gratitude for having my soul sister at my side. Gratitude to watch legends, together for longer than I’ve been alive, bring it with full force. Gratitude for the crowd— without fail, the kindest people are at metal shows. Don’t believe me? Come with tomorrow night.
Do not be a passive observer. Say yes to the opportunities that excite you. Seek them out. Say yes. And smile… “Life is ours; we live it our way.”
