Saturday, January 19, 2008

Trappings of Expectations and First Impressions


My birthday is in November, the 11th in case you want to send me gifts, and this past birthday, my oldest daughter, and my original running inspiration, Chelsea, very thoughtfully had gotten me the new Eagles double cd. I was tremendously excited about this gift as I am a HUGE Eagles fan. Perhaps being so, I had higher than normal expectations for the tracks on the cd and, after my initial listening in the car on my way down to Columbus back in November, I was thoroughly unimpressed and sadly disappointed with the cd.
Well, I have listened to the cd's on several more occassions since then, the last time being yesterday while driving around on my inspections, and I have changed my opinion. The songs are growing on me and, what I had initially judged as mundane music from this group, I am now growing to love. This experience has been a valuable reminder for me of something I am all-too-often guilty of, which is judging on first impressions and personal expectations. First impressions are important, and oftentimes can be accurate, however, don't "bank on it/them" and in so doing, possibly miss out on some sort of a blessing. In this case for me, awesome music by an awesome band that I love. I also need to temper my expectations of others, especially those most near and dear to me. Chels, you've done an awesome job this year in XC, school, and your new responsibilities with driving and your first job and I pray you keep it up. Thank you for the GREAT gift and especially the reminders that came with it!
You make me proud! ;-)

3 comments:

Jennifer said...

I'm so out of the music loop! I'm glad you are able to enjoy your new cd now. I started out really enjoying Jack Johnson's Curious George CD but after umpteen miles of marathon training last spring, I have to skip through the songs. I need to take it off my iPod for a while and bring it back when I can appreciate it again.

Nice 10 miler! Way to keep ahead of the wabbit!

Rick said...

Thanks, Jennifer. I know what you mean about repetitive music. I need to change the cd's in my car cd changer. I think I have had the same ones in there for about 3 months now!

Mar said...

I've been meaning to give this CD a listen but never really 'got to it'. Maybe I'll give it run tomorrow. Funny, Todd and I were sitting discussing all the bands we used to listen to back in the good ol' days..
y'know when men wore more make up than women and had far better hi-lights that I could ever hope for...ahhhh, the hair bands of the 80s:)

I usually ONLY listen to CDs/iPod music in my car. I rarely listen to the radio as I can't stand all the ads/screaming car salesmen. Having said that, Todd has satellite radio in his car and I'm warmed to it considerably. I'm actually aware of what all the cool new songs are before they get old! Woohooo!:)