The epitome of cool

On my way to work today, saw the following on a student poster....

Do not ask "Why isn't the world a better place?"
Ask instead "How can I make this world better?"

Not really sure how I feel about this, actually.  Inspiring? Of course.  If I had read this a decade ago as a highschool / university student, I would feel empowered and motivated to change the world.

But the first thought that came to me today, this morning, now in 2012, was.......that's nice [insert the sarcasm]!

Jaded? Yes, I will admit I have become so.  And I suspect it began when I started my PhD - when I realized that my PhD was not going to be a topic that I wanted to do, but it was going to be what the department was comfortable with AND what my supervisor found to be acceptable. 

So, there is a caveat to "How can I make this world better?"  Sure, you can make the world a better place, but you may do it in accordance to other people's better and not your own vision of better.  That's the catch and that is something I wasn't aware of when I was in my university self. 

So, what about the epitome of cool?  Why the title?  I'm not so sure either, but this was what I thought about on my way to work today on the bus. I guess I must have felt pretty cool. 

I just spent the whole day yesterday in the hospital with Chris in a pretty foreign place (I don't speak the language and the place is pretty rural).  I'm not familiar with their way of life and I certainly do not know how the medical system works.

In any case, we managed to get the medications and Chris told me that he felt better this morning.  After all that, I just felt a little like I've been to hell and back --- just a little bit.  And this morning, I sat on the bus on my way to work as if nothing happened.  I mean, if you were to just look at me, you would have no idea what had happened to me on the weekend.  So, I thought that was pretty cool.

I just feel that even though we go though our routines day after day and month after month, that's not entirely the whole story.  The cool factor is that our minds can still run free.  How we feel about something is still up to us. 

On my way to work today, I was thinking about our adventures on the weekend, the beach from the weekend past, and how we just sat on the floating dock and relaxed.  THAT is something that no one can take away from me.  THAT is something that I will always have regardless of what I look like on the outside - even if I'm stuck in full office attire.

I think THAT is uber cool....and THAT is the kind of cool dude attitude that I want to have =)