Rebuilding Rob

What could you do differently?

I suppose technically, I could do everything differently.

One of my all-time favorite episodes of Seinfeld is “the opposite”. In the episode, George has an epiphany one day. He realizes that his life is not what he wants it to be. He comes to the conclusion that every decision he has ever made in his life has wrong. After some needling from Jerry, he decides that he should do the opposite. That is, going forward, he will do the exact opposite of whatever he naturally thinks he should do in any situation.

TRUE STORY: Jason Alexander (George) has told stories of fans who have approached him, in the years since Seinfeld has ended. They have said that they followed the George Costanza principle, and completely changed their lives for the better.

While I don’t think that every decision I’ve ever made is wrong, there are certainly things in my life that I could, and would like to, do differently.

Slow down

I try to talk as fast as I think. Even though I’m consciously aware that I do it, I still fall into the habit of doing so. This is especially a problem when it comes to public speaking or even my day job as a teacher.

It’s ironic that I do this, because it drives me crazy when other people do this. They come across as very high-strung; and that is not something that I react well to. As humans, we are like this. We tend to see some of our own worst traits, and other people. While we can’t, or won’t, do anything about these annoying traits within ourselves, we hate it when we see it in others.

Organize!

I’ve always been a spontaneous person. I don’t know if I would go as far as calling it “impulsive” but I usually tend to put things off until the last minute; or even worse, I go into situations with no plan at all. Lately, I’m seeing online the argument that procrastination is a response to anxiety.

Believe it or not, there are certain things in my life that I will put a great amount of planning into. Perhaps it’s because these are things that I’m not anxious about? Procrastinating has become an issue with me and some of my relationships in that people assume that if I’m not planning something out thoroughly, it is a sign that I don’t care. In any case, it is something I’m working on. In fact, month, I made the most comprehensive New Year’s resolution list of my entire life in my blueprint for 2024.

Letting things go

My apologies if that song from Frozen is now ringing through your head…

It seems like every day I hear or see some reminder about letting go of things that I can’t control. i’m sure that it’s because I work in a high school, and those kind of daily affirmation posters are everywhere. That, and social media, of course.

But I always feel the need to remind myself of this: “they’re only two things in life that we can control: what we do, and how react to things other people do to us” That’s it. I’m sure that there is some more succinct phrasing of that idea, but that is the overall message.

It is so easy to play armchair quarterback, to look back on things in hindsight, and say “this is what I would’ve done differently“ but we saw them get those opportunities to do things differently in life. We have to come to terms with our bad decisions in life as learning experiences

Moving on

Even now, I still find myself thinking about Jessica from Time to time. Keep in mind, I broke up with her over a year ago. And while I don’t regret that decision, as I made it from a very well thought out and reasonable place, I still wonder sometimes if things could’ve been different. The truth is, they couldn’t. Things went exactly the way they were supposed to. My relationship with Jessica was a very powerful learning experience for me. It taught me a lot about who I am as a person. What I want in a relationship and, more to the point what I don’t want.

But I also know myself. I tend to think, overthink, over- analyze, second-guess, and reconsider things. I need to learn to trust myself more. I need to make a decision, stick to it, and keep moving forward.

What could you do differently?

Thanks for stopping by Rebuilding Rob. Be sure to like, comment and subscribe to my blog below. It’s greatly appreciated! Also, feel free to follow me on social media as well! Check out my most recent posts as well as some earlier related posts:

• Rob’s Retro Movie Review: This is Spinal Tap (1984) – The Movie That Scaled to Eleven
• A Death in the Family (And My Disposable Income): My Life in Comics
• The Supporting Cast: Navigating the Eras of Male Friendship
• Life is What Happens: A Look Back at My Non-Existent 2025 Vision
• The Moment I Walked Inside a Hallmark Movie

The article “Of contrarianism and George Costanza” originally appeared on Rebuilding Rob