Same stuff, different friends, different accent. Essex to Chelsea - reem daaaahling

Spending nights putting my parents through the likes of TOWIE and MIC (that's The Only Way Is Essex and Made in Chelsea if you were confused there!) has really got me thinking about reality shows. Not because their characters and storylines are a good conversation starter, nor because they're overly exciting. But because of my dad! 

"Why are we watching this? All we do is sit watching them live their lives."

"Nothing's happened in the past 2 episodes." (Yes dad you're right!)

These are just some of the complaints from my dad, who's obviously a keen fan of the likes of Antiques Roadshow and that gameshow Pointless - the name says it all on that one! 

So I started to wonder WHY? Why are we watching a group of friends argue, break up, cheat, get cheated on, bitch and drink endless litres of vodka cocktails (or the finest champagne for those on Kings Rd)? 

And I came to the conclusion that it gives us comfort. Comfort knowing that what happens in our own lives happens to celebrities. But all along it makes us realise that these people are actually normal people, like me and you. So surely it's just as effective as putting Jill and Roger, my neighbours from down the road, on tv?

No. 

Giving them as much coverage as a celebrity makes them 'famous'. And to get their fame all they've done is live...with as much drama and as many break ups as possible. I mean, Beyonce on the next page of Heat magazine to Spencer from MIC? 

Hardly on the same page are they?(No, not in any sense!)

We feel close to them, and can identify with them, whilst they show us where they party (like we do), how they celebrate and spend their days (as we do) and how they argue (like we all know too well).  Cleverly name dropping bars and, for the likes of the MIC lot, subtitling it makes their lives feel in reach to the average consumer like you and me. And we love that! More. Than. Anything. 

So that's why we all find comfort in our guilty pleasure - reality shows - but is it really still a guilt?

Hands up if you're addicted..

No wonder I'm so indecisive!

612. The number of decisions the average person makes each day. 

Waking up you have to decide which way to roll out of bed before deciding whether to put your dressing gown on. Right before you decide whether to brush your teeth now, or after breakfast. And then you must decide what to have for breakfast and which bowl or plate to use. 

Everything we do, even though it may seem un-thought-out, has derived from a subconscious decision that we, much of the time, have very cleverly made without realising. 

Pretty clever things, actually, humans..eh?

(Right there I just had to decide whether to use the ellipsis or whether to not use it. I'm still unsure.)

Out of the 4900 decisions we make each week, some are voluntary; we may discuss with a friend what we should do, make a pros and cons list or simply debate the possibilities in our mind. It's often the voluntary decisions which give us a good run for our money. 

They call me 'indecisive' and I still can't decide what it is that makes people think that. 

A lot of people, in fact a lot of my friends, make decisions, big and small, with only a blink of thought. As a paranoid, obsessed, cautious, safe and wild child (yes you really can be it all) I struggle to make a decision when it's one that can have effects. I like to figure out all of the possible consequences and figure out how to fix the consequences of my actions before the consequence has even happened. Wow. 

And then I realise that I live life like a tv drama, running risk assesments on my every storyline. 

Making a decision is my biggest downfall in life. I still don't understand how, often, you're expected to decide something or choose something which could end up, well, bad..wrong..a mistake.

[I sit writing this from a coffee shop, commando..with an overnight bag, trying to decide which colour knickers to put on..]

Appreciate now; stop wishing for tomorrow

If you won £10,000 on the lottery, you'd sit wishing it had been the jackpot. 

As humans, it's in our nature that we always want what we can't have. Or a simpler way of putting it would be that we're never happy with what we have and all we ever want is more. 

Is that greed? Aiming high? Looking forward?

I often find I'll fight with everything I physically have to get somewhere or get 'something' only to find that I didn't really need it or want it ...it was simply because I knew it was out of reach in the first place. What is it that makes us want to ache for the things we can't have, rather than appreciate the things we do have?

 

I've realised, whilst I constantly pray and wish I had different and better things, I'm missing precious time with the things that are here now. 

I don't know if life's teaching me a lesson, or what, but I find that if I'm not that bothered about something it's likely to come along for me. But the things I desperately need are a lot more difficult to achieve or find. 

And I came to the conclusion that I was trying too hard for the things I knew were out my reach. 

Appreciate now and here, not over there and 'next year'. You never know how long now and here will last, miss the 'now' and you'll probably find yourself wishing back to it. 

Nobody can control the time. 

It's ok to make mistakes; it's how we learn

An action or judgement that is misguided or wrong; a mistake. 

The word mistake has a plethora of negative connotations. It suggests something which won't be experienced twice, something which has drawn bad conclusions and possibly something which has affected the future. 

I believe there are several ways to look at 'making a mistake'. You can do one of the following:- sit, worry and panic yourself in to oblivion, plan to 'never do that again' or, as I try and protest, treat each mistake as lesson of learning. 

As Dale Carnegie said, 'The successful man will profit from his mistakes and

try again in a different way.'

I've made some mistakes in my life and I've chosen to spend time reflecting on these because I realised I wouldn't be who I am today without having made the mistakes and learnt from them. 

Everybody makes mistakes but not everybody understands how to turn them in to a positive. The man who lets go of his past, leaves nothing for him to learn from. If we have nothing to reflect on then what do we think about, and how do we asses, our future decisions?

From this point I'll make decisions based on what I've done, where I've been and how I've lived and I'll remember that whatever I decide to do now will create my futures' past. 

Even right now is tomorrow's past. 

Confusing, eh?