“I’m not superstitious but I am a little stitious”
-Michael Scott

Amanda and I watch The Office regularly. It relaxes me. The Office is basically a reality show re-enacted by paid actors.

I can make the comparison to every character on The Office to someone in real life. I think that the reality of the show is why it gives me comfort. It helps to remind me that we are all a little bit of Michael Scott. Everyone speaks before thinking, sometimes. We all say embarrassingly stupid stuff on occasion. We all communicate in a way that was not intended from time to time.

When I get stressed or anxious, I imagine the world to be filled with nothing but top-level CEOs, brain surgeons, professional athletes, and rocket scientist. I forget that it is filled with Michael Scotts, Toby Flendersons, Dwight Schrutes, and Kelly Kapoors. I lose focus of the fact that we all trip on our feet and bite our own fingers fperiodically.

I am always imagining a worse case scenario in which I am unable to keep up and I am somehow inferior to the world around me. I found that I do this with my children as well. When Grayson started basketball, I assumed it was going to be a league of 5-year olds dunking on 8′ goals, signing Nike contracts and trying to figure out which AAU coaches house they were going to live until being drafted to the NBA straight out of high school. It turned out they were 5-year olds who took 8 steps in between dribbles and ran to their parents in the bleachers, in the middle of the game, when they needed to get their shoes tied.

When Grayson started baseball this year at the late age of eleven, I was certain that every kid on the team was going to be 6’2″ with a mustache and a wicked curveball, while 90% of them would be injecting HGH in the dugouts between innings and dipping Skoal Bandits. It turns out that most throws to first base are unsuccessful and the majority of them would rather talk about Fortnite than stealing second base.

The Office reminds me that we are all human. The show helps me to remember that we are all flawed, all fallible, and all winging it. It reminds me that we all have good days when we feel like kings and bad days when we like dunces, but we all keep grinding and hope that the business stays afloat.

The Office reminds me that we are all just getting by and that most of this could be a lot more fun if I would enjoy it for what it is instead of worrying about what it could be but hasn’t become yet.

Peace, Love, and all things Beef related,

Beefcake