Trying to be thankful

[Sherlock77]

I had a yin and yang day today

This morning downtown, briefly met up with a friend and fellow photographer, he told me about a special Remembrance Day display being set up at a church (a story I had heard about on the news recently), by the time I got there I had a mere 10 minutes to work with because I had promised to pick up a friend.

So I felt extremely rushed to take any photos, my friend who could spend far more time there got much better photos, and I feel like I failed and screwed up.

But my friend. He has a stay in the hospital, due to some injuries is temporarily in a wheelchair and basically can't walk at present until some things heal up, was able to get an afternoon pass to get out of the hospital, I went way across town to pick him up. He is physically bigger than me and it was a chore to lug him and his wheelchair around all day, but we enjoyed a poetry reading, a non-hospital meal at a restaurant, and I know today meant a great deal to him.

Unfortunately going to pick him up, truncated my time photographing at the church.

Part 2) I left the poetry reading to grab a coffee, left my camera behind because I knew it was secure, spotted a great street photography opportunity (I mean excellent!), no camera, no photo, another failure! Yet another one that got away from me

Part 3) Football game tonight, the home team, we played dreadful and lost the game terribly, I'm upset, feel like it's a failure, of course I have no control over the athletes, but it has put me in a bad mood.

This thing about being thankful for life...

At least I did find about what was happening at the church, even if it was just 10 minutes. I might not have if I didn't meet up with my photographer friend.

I do know the afternoon out was good for my friend, just hanging out with him, and I can't always be everywhere at once, despite how hard I try sometimes.

Of course I can photograph the exhibit outside the church anytime, but I find it far more interesting to get the action shots, and that only happens once and it's gone, why I have mixed emotions about a day like today.

 

[wight]

I totally get what you are saying about trying to be thankful, or find the positives in the day. I have to do it myself. One of the things I find helps is to "rewrite my narrative" emphasizing the positives of the day and minimizing the negatives. (even though my tendency is to focus on the negatives). sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't. For example, if I took what you posted and rewrote it with a "positive focus" it might look like this....

I had a yin and yang day today

This morning downtown, briefly met up with a friend and fellow photographer, he told me about a special Remembrance Day display being set up at a church (a story I had heard about on the news recently), I got there in time to have 10 minutes to work but I had promised to pick up a friend.

My photographer friend who could spend far more time there got much better photos, maybe I'll ask to meet up with him to see them.

The friend I promised to meet; He has a stay in the hospital, was able to get an afternoon pass to get out of the hospital. He is physically bigger than me and it was some effort to lug him and his wheelchair around, but we enjoyed a poetry reading, a non-hospital meal at a restaurant, and I know today meant a great deal to him. So the inconvenience of going across town was worth it.

Part 2) I left the poetry reading to grab a coffee, left my camera behind because I knew it was secure, spotted a great street photography opportunity (I mean excellent!), no camera, no photo. I feel like its "another one that got away", so it's a little upsetting. I did get that coffee and it was good and then enjoyed the rest of the poetry reading.

Part 3) So having a some good, some bad day, I was looking forward to the Football game tonight, the home team. We played dreadful and lost the game terribly, I'm upset, of course I have no control over the athletes, but it has put me in a bad mood when I was hoping for an uplift.

 

[Pats]

Sometimes things don't go as planned - well, they seldom ever do. But you took the opportunity to give something wonderful to your friend and gave him a great day and a respite from his illness. That alone was the greatest accomplishment.

 

[Sherlock77]

Sometimes things don't go as planned - well, they seldom ever do. But you took the opportunity to give something wonderful to your friend and gave him a great day and a respite from his illness. That alone was the greatest accomplishment.

I'm trying to remind myself of that, it was bothering me all day but I didn't communicate that to my friend... This is but one example of how I'm so focused on photography that I sometimes don't think enough about friends and family...

 

[BraidedPony]

Did you take any photos of your friend? I’m thinking that there could be some great shots of his face enjoying his few hours of freedom with you.
Our special interests are all consuming, don’t kick yourself too hard it’s who we are.

 

[Sherlock77]

Did you take any photos of your friend? I’m thinking that there could be some great shots of his face enjoying his few hours of freedom with you.
Our special interests are all consuming, don’t kick yourself too hard it’s who we are.

Interesting fact, I rarely photograph my friends, but have thousands of photos of complete strangers through my street photography...

 

[Peter Morrison]

Some days are just "off step" days. But, you did some wonderful things, and your friend is probably aware of the difficulty you went through to make the visit. People can be appreciative without saying anything. I think it is healthy to reflect on the value of a day. You did a lot. You didn't waste it.

 

[OkRad]

I think it may be an Aspie trend tied into logic. There is one super best way to do something. We have it worked out in our heads. Anything short of that just blows it.

If A is the Super Best , and B is the Second Best and C third, and so forth, Z being the Suckiest way it could happen........If A happens, great. If Be happens, nuts...it could have been A if only that one person had not tried to engage me or that stupid light. If C happens.....rats! That is so annoying! Why did that happen?! If Z happens? What the bloody heck?! I am hated, for sure!

What I try to do is fall really fast into my special interest, knowing that is the overarching whole of my existence. I believe I may have BECOME my special interest. So it does not matter where or who or if I am not comfortable, or if I missed an opportunity. In fact, there have been many Z days where I was able to most slam on my SI. Of course in trauma, in Double Z days, it takes a little more determination and tears and maybe a few choice words........But once it starts to flow, it can block it out.

Otherwise, I would go mad because it's not like things turn our exceedingly well for people in my position. I have many good things for which I am so grateful, but I see the bigger picture all the time.