{"id":15882,"date":"2015-09-23T09:03:17","date_gmt":"2015-09-23T08:03:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.the-dock.org\/blog\/?p=15882"},"modified":"2015-09-23T09:03:17","modified_gmt":"2015-09-23T08:03:17","slug":"pet-peeves-and-simple-pleasures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.the-dock.org\/blog\/2015\/pet-peeves-and-simple-pleasures\/","title":{"rendered":"Pet Peeves and Simple Pleasures"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Screenshot<\/a>Some more crack-of-dawn visits to the BBC (stunning sunrise over Titanic Quarter as I was driving past this morning) means that I have had more Thoughts for the day!<\/p>\n

Last week we were thinking about\u00a0pet peeves – those little annoyances of everyday life that make the blood boil. \u00a0We\u2019ve all got them – like my uncontrollable rage when people don’t indicate when they’re leaving a roundabout –\u00a0leaving me\u00a0stuck there like a prune shouting \u201cIndicate! Indicate!\u201d while perfectly good chances to join the roundabout slip by because somebody couldn\u2019t be bothered to move their hand the one inch that it takes to signal when they\u2019re taking the exit.<\/span><\/p>\n

A quick text around my family and friends revealed a few of our least favourite things:
\n– people who put trousers into the wash with a tissue still in the pocket
\n– one car taking up two spaces in a packed car park
\n– being ignored in favour of a mobile phone
\n– customers who don\u2019t tidy away their trays at a fast food restaurant
\n– being interrupted before you finish your sentence
\n– using the word \u201chashtag\u201d in everyday conversation
\n– people who don\u2019t wave \u2018thank you\u2019 when you let their car out at a junction
\n– having your grammar corrected – and
\n– people who use bad grammar
\n(just to prove you can\u2019t win)<\/p>\n

Looking at my little list, it strikes me that the vast majority of these peeves could be solved or avoided if we were all just a tiny little bit more kind and thoughtful. Forgetting to indicate, neglecting to tidy up your tray or failing to jump back in the car to park between the lines, to pick just a few examples, can just easily happen because we\u2019re so busy and stressed and worried and overwhelmed and distracted that the little tiny kindnesses can sometimes be the first things that get sacrificed to the frenzy of modern life. Our faster cars, phones, connections, expectations sometimes leave us too frazzled to just be good to each other.<\/p>\n

But if we\u2019re trying to live by Jesus\u2019 famous maxim in Matthew 7, \u201cDo unto others what you would have them do unto you\u201d, then the rubber actually hits the road of that principle not in the grand gestures but the little everyday details. \u2018Do Unto Others\u2019 doesn\u2019t involve selling all your goods, wearing sackcloth or lying down in puddles for people to walk over you – we wouldn\u2019t expect anyone to do that for us. It simply involves, every so often, pausing, taking a breath, taking the extra few seconds to be kind. Or to indicate when you\u2019re about to leave the roundabout.<\/p>\n

So that was last week’s Thought – but after we\u2019d been on the air, I thought: Pet Peeves? Am I turning into a grumpy old man?<\/p>\n

So this week, out went another text – what are the little things that make you irrationally happy – the simple pleasures of life? So here are a few of our favourite things:<\/p>\n

– Someone making you a cup of tea when had just been thinking about making one for yourself
\n– Plunging your hands into hot water after you\u2019ve been outside in the freezing cold
\n– The first espresso of the day
\n– Singing along at the top of your voice to cheesy pop when you\u2019re on your own in the car
\n– Crunching through drifts of Autumn leaves
\n– Lowering yourself ever so gently into a steaming hot bath<\/p>\n

\"BlRpnEBIQAAVwsv.jpg-large\"<\/a>Something I noticed last week was that almost everyone\u2019s pet peeves involved driving – is it possible that we\u2019re all at our most easily annoyed when we\u2019re behind the wheel? And this week I noticed that almost everyone\u2019s list of favourite things included a cup of tea – tea and toast by the fire, a cup of tea and a digestive biscuit, drinking tea while watching rain on the windows.<\/p>\n

So – drive less, and drink more tea. It\u2019s the secret to happiness.<\/p>\n

Some people who replied both weeks commented that it was much easier to think of a list of simple pleasures than pet peeves. \u00a0Maybe I have a very sunny bunch of friends, but I think there\u2019s something in that – how important it is to give more energy to noticing, recognising and being grateful for the simple pleasures than dwelling on the annoyances and frustrations of life. In the words of the Apostle Paul: whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable\u2014if anything is excellent or praiseworthy\u2014think about such things.<\/p>\n

\"classic-doctor-who-episode_3yzd3_2qadem\"<\/a>And one more simple pleasure to add to the list: Settling down to watch a new episode of your favourite TV program for the first time. And because the best programme in the history of the universe returned this weekend, I\u2019ll finish with a quote from an old episode of that well-known authority on all matters philosophical and spiritual: Doctor Who. In a bit of a barney with the remorseless universe-conquering Cybermen, the Doctor asks: When did you last have the pleasure of smelling a flower, watching a sunset, eating a well-prepared meal? The Cyber Leader replies: These things are irrelevant.
\nAnd in return The Doctor speaks for all of us: For some people, small, beautiful events is what life is all about…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some more crack-of-dawn visits to the BBC (stunning sunrise over Titanic Quarter as I was driving past this morning) means that I have had more Thoughts for the day! Last week we were thinking about\u00a0pet peeves – those little annoyances of everyday life that make the blood boil. \u00a0We\u2019ve all got them – like my … Continue reading Pet Peeves and Simple Pleasures<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chris-blog"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPet Peeves and Simple Pleasures - The DOCK - Life in the Titanic Quarter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.the-dock.org\/blog\/2015\/pet-peeves-and-simple-pleasures\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pet Peeves and Simple Pleasures - The DOCK - Life in the Titanic Quarter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Some more crack-of-dawn visits to the BBC (stunning sunrise over Titanic Quarter as I was driving past this morning) means that I have had more Thoughts for the day! 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