Playing It Cool is Ruining Your Life
Photo from Caitlyn Rose Clark
Playing it cool is ruining your life.
(Mine too).
Since I can remember, I have been incapable of being anyone other than myself.
It’s been… less than convenient.
When the idea for this topic came up, I was thrilled — finally, something I could teach with confidence. I knew all the right lessons.
Then the panic hit.
Because I’ve been doing it too. Playing it cool. Pretending I care less than I actually do. You can imagine how that’s been working out. For a second, I almost wrote this piece like a total f*cking hypocrite — making it about you, thinking I had something to teach.
But I realized: if I’m not living the lesson, I have nothing to say.
You have to live what you teach. Otherwise, the universe will find a way to humble you. Or at least humiliate you.
So what are we all waiting for?
We crave connection. We want to feel the high of each other. We were made to connect — playing it cool isn’t in our nature.
Yet here we are: afraid of intimacy, glamorizing indifference, and hiding behind the illusion of “chill.”
But when you pretend not to care, you’re contributing to the collective loneliness we’re all feeling.
What if we stopped?
Maybe we’d love more freely. Maybe we’d take each other — and our relationships — even half as seriously as we take ourselves.
Wouldn’t that be something?
So here’s my invitation:
Drop the cool guy/cool girl act.
Yes, the one we all learned in middle school.
Say hi to the girl in the supermarket (and for the love of God, ask for her number).
Tell them you love them, even if it feels too soon.
And always, always kiss your family.
You got this.
I love you.
Fundamental of the Week #10: KEEP THINGS FUN
Our day-to-day work problems are small compared to those facing most of the world. Laugh every day; don’t take things too seriously.
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