Things that cannot kill you

I have some extremely good news. Today ends my very last pointless, boring, isolated weekend that ultimately amounts to little besides a trip to Walmart and church. The next two weekends will be eaten up by excessive volunteer hours at the Iowa State Fair and then I'll be thrown head-first into senior year. Oh, yes. Two glorious weeks from tomorrow I start my second-to-last semester at school and it will be so, SO welcome. I'll find myself busy and distracted with homework and APO and, OMG, the job hunt.

As I'm sure I've made clear several times, this summer was not a good one. Wow, it feels really good to talk about it in the past tense. But, as with most things that suck, I learned quite a lot.

For example, here's a list of things that cannot actually kill you (though sometimes you almost wish they did).

1. Being alone. Apparently things like breathing and heartbeats aren't dependent on the presence of other people. It's just that both of those things are infinitely more worthwhile when there ARE other people. Just to ask a friend how their day at work was and hear stories about the crazies they had to deal with. Or someone to tell a really dumb joke to. Or someone to say "It's ok, tomorrow will be better" and mean it. I mean, that stuff probably happens to you so frequently and you don't even think about it. But once that's gone, it's all you can think about. Alas, as horrible as that feeling is, you can't actually die from it.

2. Boredom. I quote Pam: "From time to time, Jim dies from boredom." If you watch The Office, you know that Jim is, in fact, not dead at all. He's still alive and kicking and being adorable with Pam. And while I am being much less adorable, and with nobody in particular, I am at least doing the alive and kicking part. Actually, I think boredom causes the opposite of death. When you're bored, time seems to drag on forever... so... maybe being bored makes you immortal. If that's the case, I have an eternity to fill...

3. Social rejection. I should probably come up with a different name for it, but that's the best I could do. My social situation was a dismal one this summer simply because I was excessively bored and everybody else was excessively busy. That meant that every time I extended an invitation, I was shot down time and time again. And sometimes it was hard not to take it personally... chalk that up to loss of perspective or becoming desperate to be with another human being for more than thirty seconds at a time and being horribly disappointed when I couldn't. I don't know, but it was rough. I guess I'm still here, though.

4. A broken heart. Dramatic, I know. But don't be fooled, it's not just the stupid boy in English class that doesn't know you exist that's capable of breaking hearts. Just remember that even though someone dear to you caused you pain, doesn't mean you should stop caring about people. You just have to continue to love in all capacities. That being said, you should also be confident enough to tell them, tactfully, they hurt you or let you down. All I know is that my headstone won't read "died from broken heart."

5. Horrible noises coming from the reverberating plink of raindrops falling loudly into bowls and jars and any other container with a fair amount of depth to catch ridiculous amounts of rain. Yeah, you can't die from that. Yes, sleepless nights lying awake with bloodshot eyes listening to the irritating yet consistent stream of water dropping into your apartment. But not death.

I know they say what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. If that's the case, you may call me Hercules.