Get yourself a Panini Brazil 2014 World Cup sticker album!! That was what got me thinking about today's topic in the first place, the simple pleasure of tearing those packs open, finding a "shiny" and realising that my first "swops" in far far too long were smiling up at me.
This was an obsession for me as a kid, as I guess it was for a majority of people who were young with me. Mexico 1986 (nearly complete), Italia 1990 (complete but lost), USA 1994( meh, England didn't qualify) and France 1998 (started but decided I was too old and mature) have all captured my imagination to various degrees during my childhood.
It is a classic example of the fact that sometimes the simplest things give us the greatest pleasure. We often seem to forget the fact that happiness can be found in the most "mundane" of places, and it doesn't make it any less valid! How many times do you overhear conversations or read articles which go along the lines of "yeah my life isn't too bad, but...."?
Well I'm afraid if you are striving to eliminate that "but" then you will struggle. Human nature means that we are very rarely truly satisfied with our lot in life, particularly in the developed world where the day-to-day worries about surviving until tomorrow are by-and-large significantly reduced. And when something does come our way that brings a smile, how often do we revert very quickly to one of the following viewpoints;
1) Everything is great, but what comes next?
2) Everything is going well, when will it come crashing down?
We seem less and less able these days to enjoy the simple things without wondering about ramifications, what might be coming around the corner, or what the current situation would need to make it "better". People really are pretty terrible at being content and satisfied it seems, particularly in this modern world of instant gratification and stunningly naive short-termism. It is a little sad really, and I am as guilty as the next person of having that attitude, though I have been trying a new "c'est la vie" approach this year and it seems to be working (cue for those who know me to correct me if I'm being misguided!!).
Was there a point to all this? Er...... there was when I first started! Oh yeah, that was it. Little bursts of happiness from simple, down-to-earth things are definitely not to be sniffed at. When a good thing comes along, embrace it for what it is and don't worry too much about what is coming next or (more importantly I think) what would have made it even better!
Life was awesome when you had a shiny. And it still is.
It was Yaya Toure, by the way, the first swop of the World Cup!
Today's #randomfactoftheday - Apparently the statistical average amount of money required to complete the 2014 World Cup album (without resorting to swops) is £412!!! #gotgotneed #swopsies
Today's #websiteoftheday - Oh my. 100 packs. 500 stickers. Shiny ones galore (http://www.amazon.co.uk/FIFA-World-Panini-Sticker-packs/dp/B00J7YNDX6/ref=pd_sim_k_h_b_cs_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1GKQQAGWQ1TTFR4RT00C)
On this day: 1792, highwayman Nicholas Pelletier becomes the first person executed by guillotine.
Till next time,
DT
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