Crowding the Line

Late in October 2012, we attended a performance of “Moby Dick” executed masterfully by the San Francisco Opera.  While, as a barbershop singing enthusiast, I didn’t particularly enjoy the atonal operatic voicing of the production, the principals gave a phenomenal rendering, and the orchestral interpretation and staging of this profoundly dark and philosophical work were awe-inspiring. 

One thing especially stuck with me – Ahab’s late-in-the-chase lament:

“What is it, what nameless, inscrutable, unearthly thing is it; what cozening, hidden lord and master, and cruel, remorseless emperor commands me; that against all natural lovings and longings, I so keep pushing, and crowding, and jamming myself on all the time; recklessly making me ready to do what in my own proper, natural heart, I durst not so much as dare?”  

There I was, retired for more than a year attending the opera in San Francisco – 2,000 miles from home in Kentucky, brooding about how to get my new invention plus 40 years worth of motivational resources into mainstream circulation; conjuring plans for patching the concrete driveway before another winter sets in; lamenting the state of my physical conditioning as I watched multitudes of bicyclists (mostly European) tackling the brutal inclines and desolate wastelands around the bay area ... 

Our cat is clearly not impressed by the preoccupation!  Try explaining to a cat why you must haul your carcass out of bed before dawn every morning and work beyond sundown when all you really have to do is open a can of tuna and fill the water dish to make it through the day …

Or try explaining it to the legions of street people omnipresent in San Francisco who were eking out their daily existence pan-handling on almost every street corner and relishing the harvest from neighborhood trash bins ... 

Then the reasons for so much crowding begin to dawn: 

There is not an endless supply of canned tuna in the pantry or clean water for the water dish; and the kitty litter does need to be tended; and safe surroundings, a warm bed and kitty treats and toys don’t simply fall out of the sky; and there’s always tomorrow to think about …

As for the street people, somebody has to provide the streets (and clean the streets) to draw the traffic and earn the money from which handouts are possible … and fill the dumpsters … and provide the public toilets … and pay the taxes … and staff the emergency rooms … and run the busses …

It makes one want to start crowding a little bit more! 

 

Crowd the line on SANITY

… on SOLVENCY
… on SUSTAINABILITY
… on LIFE MASTERY
… on TOTAL INTENTIONAL LIVING
… on DECENCY
… on A FUTURE WORTH LIVING
 

If not you … WHO?

If not now … WHEN?

 
Quartermaster

A Not-So-Fine-Line

           “Religion is the opium of the masses.”  Karl Marx

“In America, it is sport that is the opiate of the masses.”   Russell Baker

The term “opiate” suggests an addictive substance, behavior or engagement – something for which a not-so-fine line between discretion and indiscretion must be crossed, something to which we will default at the drop of a hat, and/or something with or by which we will become completely preoccupied without regard to time or responsibility. 

Pharmaceuticals (morphine, codeine, oxycodone, tobacco, alcohol …) are most familiar as inducing “opioid-like” effects and dependencies.   Different brain receptors may be involved, but the induction of an overall sense of hedonic reward and/or avoidance of discomfort – even at the risk of adverse circumstances – is common.  As noted, Marx and Baker have expanded and further generalized the field of consideration to include religion and sports. 

In the midst of NCAA “March Madness 2012”, those living on State Street in Lexington, KY witnessed the sports version of the opiate in living color – the color of overturned cars and burning couches.  While a momentary “madness” may not, technically, reflect an addiction or dependency – mother would have called it simply “getting carried away” – the tendency to get “carried away” on any account raises a flag of susceptibility to crossing a line. 

Many other “opiates” compete for our engagement, including:  Television, gambling, video games (what’s your clock time on “Angry Birds?”), Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, shopping, politics and comfort foods.  Opiates might also include inclinations toward tilting at sand castles, adoption of “cult” tenets and opinions (how are you voting in November and why?), or cultivation of hostilities (everybody feels more exalted and self-justified when they can identify or conjure a contemptible “enemy”).

The line beyond which one goes “off-road” from truest Destiny to a point of distraction is a pivotal line of demarcation – but often a not-so-fine-line.  It sometimes looks like “the real thing”.

The finest minds, greatest consciences and most disciplined individuals hold themselves to a much tighter and finer line in the general workings of the world.  Most are not Tweeting and Twittering but looking for truth, purpose and whatever workings will provide sustainable/positively-translatable future-directed advancement. 

What is YOUR “opiate”? 

And have you already crossed the not-so-fine line from “familiarity” to “fancy” to “fixation” to “dependency”?

What driving passion is occupying your time, consuming your energy, draining your creativity and taking you down a road away from your truest Destiny?  Are you on leaning on “crutches”?  What about habits?  There are good ones and not-so-good ones.  Pick the good ones.   

Let’s sober up, straighten up, smell the coffee, read the handwriting on the wall, emerge from hibernating in our “Comfort Zone”, get with the program and start “fine lining”.  Reality awaits and LIFE is moving on!  Quartermaster

Hard Earth Reckoning

Dateline:  Monday, April 23, 2012

Dear Abby,

“My wife and I are 50-year-old professionals who have paid every penny of the cost for our two daughters’ college educations.  Our oldest went on to law school and has incurred more than $100,000 in law-school loan debt.  She has struggled to find a job as an attorney, and I’m no longer sure she still wants to practice law.  She is married to a medical student who also has significant student loan debt.  Two nights ago I made the mistake of telling her that her mother and I would help pay her student loans … She and her husband spend their money on frivolous luxuries and are not responsible financially.  My wife and I live frugally.  We withdrew money from our retirement accounts to help fund our daughters’ college educations.  We now need to increase our retirement contributions and pay for maintenance and repairs to our home that we delayed while paying for their tuition.”

A Hard Earth Reckoning Truth is that we can’t forever float by on someone else’s coat tails. 

The well will eventually run dry. 

NOTE: This is not to presume that the daughter isn’t pulling SOME of her own weight.  She obviously invested enough of her own time and energy and had sufficient diligence and discipline to get through both college and law school.  But that’s simply not enough!  Unless and until everything we “get” is by our own hand and we’re both “paying it back” and “paying it forward”, we’re not playing a sustainable game.    

The teenager who gets a minimum wage job at age 16 and blows all the income on unnecessary indulgences is creating a bottomless pit of unrealistic expectations for himself/herself. 

For a truly sustainable existence between the ages of 16 and 35, we’d be packing our own lunch, eating Raman noodles for dinner, working two jobs (just like we’ll essentially be doing by age 40 … school and/or training for the NEXT job being one job), paying taxes equivalent to all the services we’re getting, shopping at Big Lots, Good Will and the Salvation Army store, driving 8-year-old Ford Focuses, owning “Go Phones” for emergency use only, putting something aside for emergencies and eventualities, and entertaining ourselves by jogging around the neighborhood or participating in community sports.  

It’s not that we don’t “deserve” what everyone else has.  It’s just that they don’t “deserve” it either!  The world economy is in dire straits in 2012 because a whole lot of people borrowed money they couldn’t pay back, spent money they didn’t have for things they didn’t need, and paid fewer taxes than necessary to support all the “entitlement” programs we have come to depend on. 

And in the process, we’re making the rich get richer as our out-of-control spending pushes the stock market to levels substantially beyond reasonability. 

Earl Pitts has been un-gently nudging us for years … “Wake Up, Umurika!”

It’s more than half-past time to start taking him seriously.

“Life will turn out the way it’s supposed to be when we start doing what we’re supposed to be doing.”   [Adapted from an old farm house calendar]   Quartermaster

SWAGGER

Looking toward the 2011-2012 NCAA playoffs, John Calipari, the much heralded coach of an incredibly talented Kentucky Wildcats basketball team, made repeated references to the fine-line but critical distinction between “arrogance” and “swagger” in his players’ attitudes – discouraging the former, generally associated with gratuitously inflated and easily deflatable self-esteem, and encouraging the latter, associated with more realistic self-assured confidence in their abilities.

During my 20^th century days working under a former Nobel Prize associate, it was invigorating to be engaged in pushing all boundaries for the advancement of science, the fruits of which – e.g., the receipt of benchmark grant awards and publications – we enjoyed with a demeanor termed the “Arrogance of Excellence”.  [Functionally, it was more like the “Swagger of Excellence”, but the implied superlative was more gratifying!] 

What was the difference?  We were inspired by our successes to work harder and better, not lulled into “resting on our laurels” (Calipari’s main concern).  There was always a higher score to attain, the next fundamental question to ask, the next fundamental question to answer, the next disease to cure, the next grant application to submit, the next experiment to do, the next manuscript to write …  And, even if we were the best, we weren’t competing just against mortals but against global time, Fate, Destiny, ignorance and perfection.  Not to mention the fact that none of us – either individually or collectively – had actually won the Nobel Prize. 

I think a good part of the distinction comes down to a question of “How big is your sandbox?”  Being “King Frog” in a small pond is a dubious distinction.  Until you can out-swim the alligators in the open estuary and the sharks in deep water, there’s not much wind in “bragging rights”. 

Perhaps the real test of one’s mettle is how good we are compared to what we “coulda” been or done.  And that’s an ever-moving target.   

And I believe the legitimacy of an award is measured by the amount of “Grace” or sportsmanship one exhibits when declared a “winner”.  Here, the difference between “arrogance”/“swagger” and simple personal satisfaction/pride in accomplishment becomes most acutely evident.  One can still work with /\ live with a person who is justifiably proud of his/her accomplishments and anxious to “share the wealth”.  Not so much so otherwise. 

John Rosemond, syndicated columnist, has undertaken a running attack against inflated self-esteem – which would include arrogance, swagger, narcissism, and bullying.  In an attempt to describe a more healthy, effective and socially acceptable self-image, he suggests that humility may be the key attitudinal element (Tuesday, March 20, 2012).  Humility reflects a much truer self-image as we find ourselves living in a very large and complex world now closing in on 5 billion people, many of whom are smarter, more talented, better conditioned/better educated and more productive.   But humility isn’t what drove George Washington to cross the Delaware or Abraham Lincoln to run for President of the United States. 

So, it seems we need different or more expansive terminology to describe a healthy self-image.  The terms self-efficacy, self-assurance and self-confidence – well-founded – help fill this gap. 

But, in the end, as Rosemond points out, it’s not really about ME!  It’s about how much value I can add to the lives of others.  In fact, my existence can only be justified by the amount I contribute toward advancement of the universe and the wellbeing of my fellow travelers within it.  It is their esteem that should drive me forward, onward and upward.  Once I get that right, even if I can never be completely satisfied with my own accomplishments, my best effort in that direction will carry reward enough to make it all worthwhile. 

Do something today to add value to the lives of others – because you CAN – and keep doing.  Quartermaster

Mining Your Assets

The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that every system, left to itself, tends toward the state of greatest disorder – eventually arriving at equilibrium with its surroundings.  

In simpler terms, everything not imposed upon by a force of sufficient magnitude to protect/ sustain or improve it tends to degenerate to its most elemental parts or “natural” state within the universe.  From dust we are made [but not without enormous investments of externally-derived energy] and to dust we return.  Iron rusts.   

In a progressive world, we “mine” valuable building materials and other resources from very heterogeneous substrata and “purify” them – i.e., separate them from the surrounding or impinging detritus – for useful application: Iron (oxide) ore is heated with coke to melt the iron, remove the oxygen and separate it from the slag to create metallic iron and steel.  Fortunately, iron is one of the more prevalent elements in the earth.  Rarer elements require more extensive mining and processing. 

I have often marveled at how “degenerate” it is of human-kind to go to all the trouble of mining and purifying elements – an energy-extensive and capital-intensive process – only to toss them away into landfills following their “useful life” … a dead-ending process requiring repeated mining and processing of diminishing sources of raw materials which, again, simply end up in landfills.  [An only slightly extended consideration gives one the notion that someday landfills will become the new mining sites for half-raw materials!  It is notable that during World War II recycling of aluminum and copper was carried out with patriotic fervor.  Today, increasing numbers of communities and corporations have begun aggressive recycling programs which help keep highly processed resources in re-purposeful circulation.]

The point of this communication is that my desk frequently looks like a landfill – a combined victim of derelict engineering and the Second Law.  All sorts of “stuff”, once purified and variably élanogenic*, ends up loosely amalgamated in an increasingly ore-like pile of “unélanogenic slag”.  From this ungainly amalgamation, I have to “mine” the slowly disintegrating “ore” to resurrect useful fragments for – hopefully – purposeful application. 

NOTE: The rationale for compilation of the amalgamation is, of course, “need-to-know” and “just-in-time” processing: There’s no need to “process” any of it until I “need-to-know” whatever is buried there, and, knowing it’s all in one place, I can go to a single source for “just-in-time” processing.  How cool is that?!

Unfortunately, the slag gets deeper and the mining becomes more difficult with time.  

An alternative to the amalgamation strategy is to spread everything a single-layer deep across as many horizontal surfaces as one can find or create.  In this fashion, everything is perennially visible and immediately available.  I’ve also taken this strategy far beyond reasonability. Unfortunately, everything singularly horizontalized is constantly “in the way” of everything else simply by sheer force of omnipresence on the radar.  And a limited surface area is a significant navigational constraint.  Even the “cutting room floor” needs a clear table upon which one may make a clean cut!

So how do we become more strategically “stuff savvy” and keep it all straight? 

I think we can use the “Mining-Enrichment-Recycling” paradigm to help keep things at least categorically “friable” – i.e., not only keeping mineral, animal and vegetable separate but sub-classifying to at least a semi-functional level (e.g., short of extreme unction OCD).

Keep your élanogenic assets refinably mineable and you will have taken the first step toward organizational sanity.  Quartermaster

*elanogenic: provides energizing fodder for the vitality of life … as in élan vital

Counting the Cost

A French astronaut [really!] was recently interviewed on NPR in the wake of findings suggesting that extended tours of duty in space may predispose one to brain damage, including loss of hearing, loss of sight and early dementia. 

The interviewer asked how these new findings might impact the decision of the astronaut to continue preparation for an extended space mission planned for the near future. 

Acknowledging the new findings, the astronaut said that, nonetheless, he would gladly accept the risks, and he had obviously given the question a great deal of consideration.   He explained that the cardiovascular system of earthlings is geared to force blood to the brain against the force of gravity and that space travelers, having no need to overcome such force, experience symptoms of excess pressure in the brain.  But he felt that these are reasonably tolerated and reasonably managed, particularly in well-conditioned astronauts. 

Perhaps more to the point, he indicated there is no guarantee that one would not experience losses of hearing, sight, and dementia with age simply vegetating on terra firma.  And how could one live with oneself – in any case – having missed the incomparable opportunity to have pushed the frontiers of human experience to new heights!

The astronaut’s response underscored the fact that regret is a poor companion, and the cost of NOT doing something – even of high risk – may be greater than the cost of actually doing it.   

Life is going to COST something. 

And a richly fulfilled life is full of sacrifices as well as rewards. 

Count the costs well – both the costs of DOING and the costs of NOT doing. 

In the end, if you’re an astronaut, you do whatever astronauts do – and keep doing until you can’t do any more. 

Take away a person’s reason for living and his soul dies.  Feed the soul today.  Go out and risk something.  Your very life may depend on it!   Quartermaster

Personal Manifesto

Preface
I believe it is important for us, at some point in our existence, to set out and articulate our fundamental guiding principles; to upgrade those principles as we live and learn; and to practice those principles to the best of our ability.  Toward that end, I offer my currently engaged "Personal Manifesto", below, along with an invitation to any others willing to share their respective offerings.  These pronouncements are not necessarily "weighted" by listing in any priority order. 

Prounouncement
I am not into lost causes, losing propositions or meaningless pursuits.

The last person I want to fool – or BE fooled – is myself.

I will not shy from the difficult or even imponderable as long as there is reason to hope that a better day or condition can result from the applied effort. 

I am willing to risk significant investment for substantial gain and am willing to defer gratification toward greater ends, even to a point of sacrifice, where warranted or necessary. 

I believe life needs to be lived with Purpose. 

Definable goals are fine, but Purpose is a much more powerful driving force. 
 
I believe the end game of life – or at least a major piece of the end-game – is to eliminate the largest possible number of things that might – if NOT eliminated – threaten my wellbeing and/or the wellbeing of the world around me. 

I believe life has to add up and one has to keep adding for the duration. 

Each of us who inhabited the earth yesterday should have both learned and contributed something; and today we need to capacitize ourselves to contribute even more tomorrow.  There’s no official sanction for “coasting” or “resting on one’s laurels”. 

I believe in the acceptance and due exercise of personal responsibility. 

I do not believe it advances one’s station in life to wear clothing emblazoned with someone else’s name.

I believe we have many options to define our own Destiny if we will but apply ourselves to our full potential.  Waiving such options and deferring the application relegates us to the dictates of Fate, which is patently ungenerous. 

With regard to time, I believe there is no such thing as “Free Time”.  Time not scheduled is time wasted if not wisely invested.    

With regard to finances, I believe in building equity from time-zero onward.   Investments in equity position and/or sustainability are warranted, even to a point of indebtedness, e.g., for education, “Tooling-Up” (for a business or vocation), long-term housing, reliable transportation, vestments of professional station, etc.  But indebtedness otherwise is a fool’s squandering.

I believe each of us should explore the fullest range of human experience possible within our respective allowances of time and talent.   

I believe it is important to know how to “play” as well as how to generate and regenerate the driving forces of life.  Active pursuit of inspiration and engagement in positively affirming and “enlifening” activities are critical to overall wellbeing and should be liberally pursued and applied – but not to a fault!  The end-result of such pursuit should be increased, not decreased, capacitization. 

I believe in fostering creativity. 

I believe in being flexible and in being open to new possibilities.

I believe in developing translatable skills and aptitudes that can serve multiple purposes. 

I believe in Total Intentional Living. 

I understand that I do not have all the answers, and am committed to adapting and adjusting as necessary, within my ability, to best reflect the extant principles and practicalities of life.   

I adamantly abhor dogmatism for its own sake. 

With regard to social engagement:

The conservative in me wants the profanely poor and the deftly disabled to get off their asses and do something useful to justify the valuable resources and opportunities they’re wasting. 

The liberal in me wants to minister to all those in legitimate need.

The utilitarian in me wants to educate and equip the masses in real-time, real-life requirements and expectations, with leadership – to the grave if necessary – for progressive productive engagement.

The philosopher in me wants to provide enlightenment for all to revision their station in life as on a trajectory UP – not as some Fate-decreed spot in a parking lot – having an ultimate goal of Life- and Self-Mastery.  

I believe a person is “accomplished” when what he most prefers to read, he, himself, has written; when the music he most prefers to hear or perform is music he, himself, has composed; when the tools he finds most useful are tools he, himself, has devised; when the art he prefers to view, he, himself, has created.  

Quartermaster 

Incongruent Behavior

I’m sure there’s a better way to describe it, maybe even in technical terms, but I believe we need to acknowledge that some behavior just doesn’t add up to a whole SUMMNESS, all things considered – and “all OTHER things being equal” … which they definitely are NOT universally.  Here are some examples:

           Teen to his mother: “I need my Social Security number.”
            Mother to teen:  “It’s on your SS card.”
           Teen: “I lost my card.”
            Mother:  “It’s also on that slip of paper I gave you for your back pack.”
            Teen: “I lost that, too.”
            Mother:  “[Sigh] I’ll go dig through some files.”
            Teen:  “You might consider getting more organized!” (Zits: February 20, 2012)

Mountain climbers decide to tackle the highest mountain in mid-winter under the most treacherous conditions and expect rescue teams to be at their beck and call when something goes wrong.

The percentage of “Guilty” pleas entered before the court is infinitesimally small, and the prison system is literally bulging with people who don’t think they did anything wrong.  

But incongruent behavior is rampant throughout civilization at much more subtle levels. 

Folks abuse their bodies with junk food and toxic substances, then expect the healthcare system to bail them out and make them “normal”.  (They have pills for that, don’t they?)

Prima Dona employees want to be declared “special” with all the perks while being assigned less work than anybody else.  (Otherwise known as the “Prince” or “Princess” Mentality.)

NBC TODAY Show listener question/answer session, Wednesday, February 22, 2012:

Question: “How can I reduce my credit score (implication: ‘What ‘magic’ can I tap into so I can borrow more money at cheaper rates)?” 

Answer:  “Pay your bills on time and reduce your credit/debt balances!”  [Duh!]

In an old episode of “Roseanne”, Darlene defends her failing grade on a test with righteous indignation, declaring a flagrant “foul” against the system because her friend forgot to wake her up from sleeping through the previous class! 

Taking full responsibility for ourselves and our own wellbeing is viewed with increasing “optionalism”.  As long as we can conjure a friable excuse or “fall-back” position, as long as we can invoke inalienable “rights” and “entitlements”, and as long as we can get significant (more responsible?) others to bail us out and/or defer to our peculiar personal “proclivities”, we expect the parade to keep moving to the dysphonic din of our own distemperate drumming.  And getting repeatedly “rescued” and “reprieved” perpetuates the problem while increasing the stakes of the inevitable “Defining Moment”.

Incongruent behavior – i.e., behavior inconsistent with our overall potential, our overall goals and our overall wellbeing – is not a sustainable enterprise.    

     “But how can he expect that others should

      Build for him, sow for him, and at his call
      Love him, who for himself will take no heed at all?”
From “Resolution and Independence” by William Wordsworth

What are the options? 
Try “Total Intentional Living”.  Or “Take Something Like a Star” (Robert Frost).  While “ … It asks a little of us here ... It asks of us a certain height … “, it gets us much closer to our most desirable goals with much more certainty, with much higher denomination “passage”, and with many fewer encumbrances.   Quartermaster

Chill Out

Just exactly HOW do you “Chill Out”?

And WHEN and HOW OFTEN?

If you’re “Chilling Out” more than 45 minutes a day, better check your stress level – it may be either too much or not enough! 

While “Chilling Out” may have its place in the midst of a hassled and harried rat race, if done poorly it takes us off-the-clock from our Dreams and personal aspirations, not to mention from putting bread on the table and tackling the things that may be stressing us out, or that WILL stress us out if they don’t get done. 

And exactly WHAT is “Chilling Out” for you? 

Is it polishing off a case of beer in front of the TV every weekend?
Taking 20 cigarette / coffee breaks a day?
Surfing the internet / schmoozing with your Smart Phone?
Playing “Angry Birds” … other video games?
Taking a walk?
Commiserating with co-workers/friends/family?
Loading up on “comfort foods”?

And is your personal “Chill-Out” activity – or inactivity – a Regenerative or Degenerative engagement?  Does it re-energize you or leave you completely “wasted”?  Getting out of the line of fire in the heat of battle is sometimes necessary.  But to simply cast one’s weapons aside and allow the batteries to short-out at even the first inkling of fire puts us at a significant disadvantage in overall coping. 

Personal growth/development and advancement requires us to handle “fire” – but, even more so, to become increasingly adept at preventing fires – as we progress in our journey.  So generative and regenerative processes – along with overall capacity building – are critical and should not become completely overshadowed/negated or absorbed by “Chilling Out”.  

What do I do, personally, to “Chill Out”?  I take a walk or take a nap!   And I get 8 hours of sleep a night.  But during those processes, I’m fully engaged in problem-solving – figuring out how to prevent and put out fires.  It’s habit-forming, it helps “Beat the System”, and it works wonders!  [I also sing in various groups about 9 hours a week and regularly attend services at my home church.]  Stuff that does not positively contribute to my overall capacity or wellbeing – or to that of those who are important to me – just doesn’t deserve much attention. 

Here are some other suggestions on Chilling Out:

SIMPLIFY

"Simplicity allows the senses to rest from stimulation.”         Gunilla Norris

TURN OFF YOUR INPUT/OUTPUT CIRCUITS AND TURN ON YOUR IMAGINATION       

“The imagination needs moodling – long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling, and puttering.” Brenda Ueland

And, as for avoiding “Trouble” …

“When I see trouble coming, I go on up ahead to meet it.”  Bernice Johnson Reagon

“Don’t waste a good ‘Chill-Out’ getting wasted.”   Quartermaster

My Genes Are To Blame!

Research just in*:  Approximately 250 genes in the human genome are considered “expendable”, and the “average” person is tooling around with approximately 20 broken or inactive genes (0.01 percent) out of a total of 20,000. 

But how many MORE genes and/or clusters of genes that AREN’T expendable are slightly askew (mutated or expressed in higher or lower-than-normal amounts) in YOUR geniusome?  How about the “tired” gene?  The “disorganized” gene?  The “perseveration” gene?  The “OCD” or “ADHD” gene?  The “Couch Potato” gene cluster?   

Perhaps more to the point:  How good – really – are you at compensating for any deficits? 

In this 21^st Century, we know that persons predisposed to heart disease can compensate to a considerable degree through diet and exercise.  We know that persons predisposed to colon cancer can compensate substantially by diet, exercise and an annual colonoscopy.  We know that fair-skinned people can reduce the risk of skin cancer by protecting themselves from UV radiation.  Persons with a predisposition to dementia can compensate to some degree through both physical and mental exercise.  And then – for SOME things – there’s “medication”.     

But not – so far – for stupidity, foot-in-mouth disease, mere/sheer naïveté, “bull-headedness”, or pomposity – replete with unfounded assumptions and unrealistic expectations … or for the standard panoply of human vices: Lust, Avarice, Sloth, Gluttony, Pride, Envy and Anger.   

Persons prone to addiction or to the subordinating powers of inertia may have an even more difficult time.  However, effective proactive compensations can still be made. 

BOTTOM LINE: Success in life is largely determined by how well we compensate for (i.e., not cover-up or merely “give free license” to) our deficiencies and exorbitances.  We are ALL compromised by our own discombobulated constellation of endowments.  

ACTION PLAN: Let’s take inventory and hammer out a workable plan of compensation.  Our genes may be to blame for a plethora of incompetencies.  But if we don’t make the effort to compensate, we can’t expect to compete or participate in the same gene pool with those who are more gifted and/or with those who are more ardent and effective in compensation. 

CAVEAT: Each of us certifiably has undeciphered aberrations in our respective Philosopho-Psychosomes.  So it would serve each of us well to simply compensate for everything we can imagine and, thus, stop repeatedly tripping over ourselves – a fairly tall order most days!   

“We are normally blind about our own blindness.  We’re generally overconfident in our opinions and our impressions and judgments.  We exaggerate how knowable the world is (and how much we know about it.)”   Daniel Kahneman, Nobel Prize-winning Economist

 

*Research team led by Daniel G. MacArthur of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in England. Published February 16, 2012 in Science.  Reported by David Brown, The Washington Post February 17, 2012.

Wellness

A large component of our negotiable currency in life arises from how WELL we do things.  The better we do things and the more things we do well, the larger the rewards we will enjoy and the less hassle we will have to endure.  Some folks are successful in placing all their energy and attention into one thing which they do VERY well, allowing them to rise to the top of their field.  [NOTE: This does not generally include people who do only video games very well or who primarily perseverate very well or who worry very well or who find fault with other people very well.] 

However, many people do many things very well, and these are generally the most fulfilled, overall.  This includes people with mild-to-moderate forms of obsessive-compulsive disorder.  For such folks, things have to be done, they have to be done right, and they have to be done NOW – or ELSE!  [It’s actually hard to fault such an orientation as a general formula for success, as long as it doesn’t involve the pursuit of trivial, incidental or “phobic” contrivances.  And while it’s often difficult to live with (!), it can be extremely effective.]  

 

Systematic wellness engagement (as in “Total Intentional Living”) provides an excellent basis for self-efficacy, self-esteem, personal satisfaction, and fulfillment.  A welcome fringe benefit is that it increases our capacity to do even more better.  Wellness advances our currency and stature on the world stage and creates opportunities.  Wellness improves attitude and rewards and reinforces discipline. Consistently doing things well minimizes stress, depression and despondency.  Doing things well is “enlifening”.  It provides a sense of dignity and distinction, “legitimizes” our existence and ingrains professionalism.  Wellness demands and enhances care-full-ness, critical thinking and creativity.  Wellness gets us more of what we deserve, more of what we want and more of what we need.  Wellness is a manifestation of excellence in action.  Wellness provides a certain amount of indemnification, holding us harmless against the perils and liabilities of mediocrity.  Wellness affords us the luxury of higher echelon compeer engagement. Wellness is an integral part of Continuous Quality Improvement and Total Quality Management.   Wellness utilizes practices and principles which translate across all arenas of life. 

Unfortunately, “wellness” is not contagious.  In fact, it has to be pursued with great effort, purpose and intentionality, and it must be firmly grasped and definitively wrestled to the mat.  To the naïve and unschooled unwell, “wellness” appears to result from pure luck, from cheating or from some unfathomable (and unfair) act of Grace.  But, curiously, once a beachhead of wellness is established, it tends to ingrain itself as a commanding standard for the duration. 

“Whatever you do, make certain it is done well.

Practice and perpetuate ‘wellness’.

You will have much in which to take pride and few regrets.”

Quartermaster

Listing to the Right

[Today's entry is excerpted and adapted from Peter Thompson's TGI Monday missive, 1/23/2012]

 Peter says:

“I keep seeing people who could be storming along the river of golden moments – who are still dragging their feet out of treacle-like gloop - every single day!

And why is this happening?

Earl Nightingale, in his brilliant ‘Lead The Field’ program, introduced me to Ivy Lee, the management consultant who was probably the man who came up with the Do List idea.  Thank you Earl.

Here’s how I use it – please copy this idea.

Each and every ‘working’ day and occasionally for non-working days, too – I create my Do List.

Not a To Do List – it’s a DO LIST!

I number the list down the left hand side to give it some order – I like order.

Then before I do anything else I do the following:

Using ONLY 1 and 2 and 3 – I prioritize the top 3 items on the list – nothing more – just the top 3.

I do item 1.

I reprioritize the list just to make sure item #2 is now the next thing to do.

I do item 2.

I check the list again.

I do item 3.

In between all this action…I’ll be drinking tea. I like tea! Taking a moment for reflection – even ambling down the road for a breath of fresh air.

Focused in a totally relaxed way – knowing for CERTAIN – I’ll get done whatever I can get done
in the time I’ve allocated for action - that day.

This works because…It’s so obvious - a successful life is made of successful years.

 Successful years are made of successful weeks.

 Successful weeks are made of successful days

 And…Successful days are created by adhering to a simple plan of actions towards stated goals.

Simple – oh so simple.  No rush. No stress. No panic!  No trying to do tomorrow’s work today.

Simply being yourself – I like being myself and doing the very best I can on every task I’ve
considered and decided is worthy of being on my list.

If we have a purpose

If we have goals

If we have a Do List – and stick with it … [I was going to say ‘everything’ but I’ll be a tad cautious and say] ‘nigh on anything’ can be achieved.

Do you know what you want?

Do you know what you need?

Do you have a daily Do List?

Will you just go 1 and 2 and 3 (slowly but surely)?”

“Little things done on a daily basis, minute-to-minute, by habit and with total intentionality, make large changes possible.”      Zig Ziglar

Name Your Game

Are you an “early adopter” or a “late adopter”?   Do you have to have the latest toys and technology or can you wait for the beta version or beyond or until the technocrats work out the bugs and/or until the price comes down and you can afford it?  With a little water already over the dam, one might dare to ask, how is that “game” working out for you?  If you’re an early adopter, what do you do with all the “old” technology? 

Can you delay gratification or do you need immediate gratification?  Are you cautious or daring?  A big spender, a spend-thrift or a miser?  Hyper-organized or just plain hyper?  “Sensible” or spontaneous?  “Devil may care”?

Do you like to prospectively line out your daily/hourly/weekly/yearly goals and activities, or do you simply operate in “somehow/someday” mode?  Do you live primarily in the NOW, in the past or in the future?  Are you a “belt-and-suspenders” kind of person or do you prefer to work without a safety net? 

What lines have you drawn in the sand?  What barriers have you built that you will not cross?  Or is the “world your oyster”, such that “anything goes”? 

And why does it matter?

The bottom line is outcomes:  How is your “Game” working so far, and how likely is it that you’re going to get where you want or need to go – in this lifetime? 

If you’re too cautious, too particular or a perfectionist, it might never happen.  If you’re head-long/head-strong, you may overshoot the subtle twist and turn adjustments required for a meaningful outcome.   

If you’re simply out to “Beat the System”, be very circumspect about HOW you’re going to do it and check the odds carefully.  (The odds on get-rich-quick schemes, “calling your own shots”, or sheer brute force heavy-handedness are not very good.)

If you’re a teenager and want a car, why?  To impress your friends?  To go mall hopping?  To go to the drive-in?  Or to get a job?  Yes, it MAY matter! 

If you’re trying to play soccer on a baseball field, there’s going to come a point – at SOME point – where the lay-of-the-land and the rules don’t match and you’re out of bounds.  

Most of us, like the blue-haired ladies at the Bingo hall, like to hedge our bets by playing several “games” simultaneously.  In some things (finances?), we may be cautious and organized but in others (diet?) we’re no-hold-barred. 

The name of the real “Game” of life is EVOLUTION – imposing continual change and requiring adaptive development – which we must play with “Total Intentionality”, immersing ourselves in gainful engagement with purpose.  Take a look at the “Game(s)” you’re playing and see how the outcomes measure up to where you “should” be or want to be.  You may need to make some adjustments.  But that’s a key part of the “Game”!  Plan, prepare, do, learn, adjust, become (wiser, smarter, more knowledgeable, more skilled, more productive, more flexible, less ‘opinionated’, more valued, etc.) and prosper!           Quartermaster

“It is impossible to consistently perform in a manner inconsistent with who you are [,what “Games” you’re playing] and how you ‘see’ yourself.”  Dr. Joyce Brothers

No Safety Net

Growing up, I was fascinated by circus performers flying on the trapeze.  The epitome of daring and showmanship was to perform without a net. 

Similar and even more daring feats were performed on the tightrope:

“Charles Blondin owed his celebrity and fortune to his idea of crossing the gorge below Niagara Falls on a tightrope, 1100 feet (335 m) long, 3¼ inches in diameter, 160 feet (50 m) above the water. This he accomplished, first on 30 June 1859, a number of times, always with different theatric variations: blindfolded, in a sack, trundling a wheelbarrow, on stilts, carrying a man (his manager, Harry Colcord) on his back, sitting down midway while he cooked and ate an omelet and standing on a chair with only one chair leg on the rope.”  [Wikipedia]

We start out life close to the ground with safety nets all around, including parents, teachers, community leaders, coaches, scouting leaders, neighbors, family, friends, etc. 

But, as the curtain rises in our lives, the safety nets drop away, reducing both the surveillance commitments and the corralling constraints keeping us within the safety net loop, and we are expected to take increasing responsibility for our own welfare. 

While the safety nets don’t completely disappear (e.g., we have contingency provisions for Unemployment Benefits, Worker’s Compensation, Disability Benefits, Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, food banks, Salvation Army, etc.), they serve mainly to cover emergency circumstances and to prevent destitution in dire circumstances.  

To realize the life we are intended to adopt for ourselves, we need – at some point – to climb the ladder, take hold of our own trapeze and walk out on our own tight rope into territory where safety nets generally don’t exist.  So we have to construct our own safety nets, where possible, or sprout “wings”.  With sufficient earnings, we can purchase life insurance, health insurance, car insurance, home insurance, etc. But we can’t buy “Job Insurance”, or “Wellness Insurance”, or “Beauty Insurance” or “Social Mobility Insurance”.  There are no safety nets here.  The claim “I’m Dr. Johnson’s son/daughter … “ carries diminishing indemnification, importance and impact with time. 

But don’t sell the “Wings” paradigm short.  We’re challenged by many to “Soar with the Eagles” [although we’re reminded by David McNally that “Even Eagles Need a Push”!]  How does that work?     

First of all, we need a constitution capable of flight (translated attitude and general “fitness”).  Then we need wings (translated math skills, writing skills, computer skills, etc.)  And we need a finely tuned compass (translated sound inner-core principles and well-cultivated habits) to be able to navigate the uncharted landscape.  And we need absolute diligence in attentiveness to the voyaging.  We can benefit immensely from significant others who can provide “wind beneath our wings” … who can make passage more tenable and increase achievable elevation.  For this to happen, we need to be found worthy of the investment, accountable, and diligent in applying the capital assets at your disposal.  (Significant others are generally altruistic, but they are not so beyond reasonability!) 

BOTTOM LINE: Externally imposed safety nets are for the nascent, naïve, immature, underdeveloped, untested, unsung, under-capacitized and misfortunately undone.  The safety nets are intended to provide shelter while “seasoning”, wising-up, maturing, developing, testing, benchmarking and capacitizing the troops.  The real rewards in life are concentrated at higher altitude, attainable only by those who can rise high enough to get them. 

“The only safe course … is to expect no safety.”

Virgil

“Emulant of the wise who soar but never roam,

True to the kindred points of heaven and home,

Wheresoe’er thy Dreams may be,

Receive with Joy thy Destiny.”

[Derivation from “To a Skylark” by William Wordsworth]