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  1. #1
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    "Crappy Snowballs"

    By Cynthia Oser, Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)

    Life crap is like a snowball rolling down a hill.

    You woke up late… you forgot to take your clothes out of the dryer and everything is wrinkled… you missed your bus… your test today will determine whether you pass or fail… but you can't get there… no friends with cars answer your pleas for a ride… you have no money for a cab… your professor refuses to let you retake it… you fail the test… you fail the course… financial aid drops you… you drop out of school… you have to take a lousy job with little pay… you have to move back with your parents who drive you crazy.

    Now picture a snowball rolling down a very steep hill. It gets bigger and bigger as it rolls. It gets stronger, faster, and heavier. You can't stop it. The sheer volume and mass would crush you if you got in its path. So you let it roll. That's all you can do when it's happening.

    You stand by and watch it demolish everything in its path… houses, trees, your college semester, your dream of being a brain surgeon, and your freedom to eat dessert before dinner.

    Poof! … Crap… in a white cloud of dust.

    The good news is that at some point, that giant snowball will reach the bottom and stop. Yes, snow will be scattered for miles and it will be your job to dig out of it.

    See, when life happens, we rarely have the ability to stop it when it's happening. Life takes us by surprise and unfortunately, none of us are Supermen who can stop that speeding snowball. But once that snowball is done, it's time to decide what to do. This is the point where you now have to deal with what happened to you.

    We have choices. We can sit and cry which btw, is healthy. We can get angry and kick snow around for days. Again, that's part of the grieving process and is OK.

    But after a few days, we have to do something because there's freakin' snow everywhere. Some people have kazillions of dollars and can hire snow plows to clean the mess. Unfortunately, they don't learn much other than money buys everything. When their money is gone, they're back at square one… snow crap… and no coping skills to solve their problems.

    You could sit frozen in the snow and complain, whine, and feel sorry for yourself. All that will do is freeze you into hypothermia. You'll go down in history as a frozen Popsicle who gave up. The problem with that is that eventually the Popsicle melts and you'll be remembered as the Popsicle stain on the sidewalk who didn't accomplish much. Ever step in Popsicle goo? People will curse you even after you're long gone.

    No… the snow must be dealt with. Cry it out for a bit, find a shovel, and start digging. Figure out ways to cart the white [BEEP] away. Sing an annoying song about hating snow crap while you work. Build an army of snowmen who hold signs that read, "Snow crap is crappy." Start an "I hate snow" support group or seek out a snowball PTSD counselor. Make a tee shirt with a line across a big snowball.

    But keep going. Eventually, the snow will get cleared. You will start seeing the results of not giving up. You will begin to feel like you are doing something and accomplishing an answer to the uncontrollable snow roll. Keep shoveling while you talk or [BEEP] or cry all over the mailman. Just keep moving forward.

    The thing that happens with moving forward is empowerment. You begin to feel some control over the situation. Your actions start to take away your sense of powerlessness and you get stronger with every shovel stroke. You begin to see that the big [BEEP] white ball didn't kill you. You can start taunting the ball with things like, "Yeah, right, you useless form of H2O! You are nothing without a hill! Nothing!"

    And each time you accept that crap happened, don't give up, and move forward, you become much more than the person who let the snowball win. You become a greater, stronger, healthier human being.

    Snow crap happens. It's called life. Don't give up and remember to move forward. We have enough frozen Popsicle goo on the sidewalk already.

    Now go out and kick some snowball ass.

  2. #2
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    Advice like this bothers me a bit. I could NOT sing a happy song, I could not be overly positive and smiley about it. It’s just not who I am. Also I hate how quickly people dismiss things as a pity party. Get over yourselves some people just have no one to talk to about their issues so they talk about it online. Sorry if that offends you, now leave me alone.

    Also this metaphor has one giant problem in that for me, the snowball never stops. I doubt it ever will, there’s no end in sight.
    I don?t like being around or interacting with other people, this is my personality. I am a jerk - I don?t mean to be, but whenever I speak up I say something rude. It?s just the way that I am. Don?t bother me.

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