elwood p dowd

Just a couple of quotes from Elwood P. Dowd.

"I always have a wonderful time, wherever I am, whomever I'm with." - EPD

Man, wouldn't you love to say this is true about yourself? I certainly can't, as my friends would attest. But I do know people who can say this. It amazes me and I find lately that I envy them. I want that sort of pleasant optimism.

"Years ago my mother used to say to me, she'd say, "In this world, Elwood, you must be" - she always called me Elwood - "In this world, Elwood, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant." Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me." - EPD

Have you ever heard the saying (and I am quoting loosely here) "Personal wisdom is deciding what you want and what you need and then finding the balance between the two"? I often think about this saying in my life, but lately I wonder if I have done a good job at all of finding the balance.
I try to set loose goals to help me be where I want to be in five, ten, twenty years. I have met people who are cool at age 40. I know people who are very uncool at age 30. Each of these people have found their own happiness. I have thought for a few years that I wanted to still be cool when I am 40. I thought I wanted to know the coolest music, books, films, art, restaurants and cities. But if you go back about six years, there was something else on my wish list for my future self. I met a girl back then who told me that her fiance's stated goal in life was to be known as a nice guy. I remember thinking it was such a grand aspiration and that I wanted to assimilate it as one of my own goals. For a while it was, but it faded. Being "nice" and doing "nice" things was code for boring. I put way too much precedence on the "cool".
And so here I am, at a crossroads of sorts. I want to be smart, cool and funny and I want to intellectualize the cool stuff. I recently came to realize that I need the "pleasant" stuff in my life as well. If only I was wise enough to find the balance.
One rabbit's foot in front of the other, I guess.