If you have a Kindle (I call it my "Kihnd-ee" and have superglued googly eyes above the amazon arrow) I highly recommend this feature. All you have to do is keep your finger on a word you don't know and it'll give you the definition! I've often caught myself NOT clicking on a word because I felt like I should know what it means and felt badly about it.
After recognizing this negative self-talk for the bully it was-I decided not only would I look up the words as they occurred, but at some undetermined point of my life I would actually learn them.
One of these words is "Chimera." I pronounce it kEYE-Meh.-Ruh -feel free to learn the right way and don't bother trying to explain it to me in true IPA form.
In Greek mythology the chimera is the head of a Lioness (think Nala) the body of a goat and a serpent's tail (for me, rattle snake). ALSO IT BREATHES FIRE.
It represents "a thing that is hoped or wished for but in fact is illusory or impossible to achieve."
(source: google? it's the first result in a gray box and you can't see the actual origin although I suspect it's the Oxford dictionary)
YIKES. Definitely something I needed a word for these days. Am I experiencing/a/some/many Chimeras right now?
The same day I was pondering this definition I was also in the midst of trying to get my grad life together. I was trying to maintain professional countenance (duh another kindle word) despite logistical setbacks (apartment woes+schoolaucracy=financial inferno). I'd had some naive moments already and was trying to stave off further peccadillos by reading selected works from my profs (abstracts only, duh. JK.).
In this initial research I recognized a horrific mistake; I'd accidentally registered for something in psychopharmacology or neuroscience. CAN YOU IMAGINE THE ADD/DROP PROCESS NOW? THE FEES? THE PAPERWORK? MORE SIGNATURE SCAVENGING?! I'M NOT GOING TO PASS THIS UNLESS I GET CREDIT AS A TEST SUBJECT.
Then I realized it was okay, a happy case of 2 researchers with the same last name at the same University. JKJK HAHA NO NEED TO PANIC
My interest was piqued when I scrolled to Self-kindness when facing stress: The role of self-compassion, goal regulation, and support in college students’ well-being by Neeley et. all (am I doing this right?)
In this study, the researchers were looking to build upon an existing study involving goal-redirection and happiness. In other words people who were able to re-direct their goals were happier.
Example 1: You are going after the fine specimen from your kickball rec league. Oh how you adore their physique, sense of humor, how they squat devotedly during plays at shortstop...
Oh snap! They are taken?! :(
...but their friend in left field is single and suddenly you realize they are seriously rocking that scrimmage pinnie.
PLEASE TAKE THIS MOMENT TO APPRECIATE THE INTENTIONAL OMISSION OF GENDER PRONOUNS TO ENHANCE AUDIENCE RELATE-ABILITY.
My first reaction in this reading was, "Is science telling me to lower my standards for happiness? Are you inferring I want a pet hamster and not a chimera? This is malarkey."
Example 2: You are going after the fine specimen from your kickball rec league.
Oh how you adore their physique, sense of humor, how they squat at shortstop...
Oh snap! They are taken?! :(
THIS ALWAYS HAPPENS TO ME! Ugh, I think I'll wait in the friend-zone until their partner inevitably blows it! I am so undesirable I don't know how my shadow even hangs around. That's it, I'm going to eat that whole cheese block when I get home.
Example 2: You are going after the fine specimen from your kickball rec league.
Oh how you adore their physique, sense of humor, how they squat at shortstop...
Oh snap! They are taken?! :(
THIS ALWAYS HAPPENS TO ME! Ugh, I think I'll wait in the friend-zone until their partner inevitably blows it! I am so undesirable I don't know how my shadow even hangs around. That's it, I'm going to eat that whole cheese block when I get home.
Make sense? We are generally better off with goal-redirection, granted it's hard to remember this is an option in the heat of the moment.
Also, perceived availability of help and services to undergrads staves off unnecessary melt-downs.
Just knowing you have a trampoline under you as you walk a tightrope makes you perform with more success than the image of the grand canyon.
Other Talking Points/Review: Be nice to yourself even when nobody else can hear you (practice positive self-talk), ask for help (seek a trampoline), remember everyone else goes through this bologna (acceptance of the human condition), avoid catastrophizing, (although not explicitly recommended) MEDITATE, and seek alternates (goal-reorientation).
TL,DR: If you have a "pet chimera" this study recommends you either re-purpose it/genetically modify it or perhaps set it free.
Someone once told me that YAHOO stands for: You Always Have Other Options
YAHOO!
