Firsts

“Someone must be first in all things.”

[From the movie “The Emigrants”, 1971]

One risks stating the obvious in stating the obvious.  (May Yogi Berra now rest in peace!) 

And “givens” can hardly be taken as deep wisdom. 

But there are shadows of deeper truth to be gained from simple things. 

The implication of the quote, of course, is that some ONE body has to be the first to stick their neck out and venture into unknown territory if the world – or we, ourselves – are to advance. 

What occurred to me in hearing this line was:

How many “Firsts” have I had, and how many are yet ahead? 

We all have had many “personal firsts” and “personal bests”.  Like learning to walk, tying our shoes, learning to talk, learning to read, going to school, hitting our first pitch in a game of baseball, graduating high school/college, getting a job/first paycheck, etc. 

But there is no end-of-the-line on “firsts” until the line ends. 

“It ain’t over ‘til it’s over”

Yogi Berra 

We’ve gotta keep doing firsts.  Of course, just getting up one day older every day is a personal “first/best” for all of us.  But that’s a “given”, requiring no more effort than moderating the consumption of cheese cake, alcohol and drugs. 

Some things you might think about doing as new “firsts” might include:

• Learn a new language
• Take up learning a musical instrument
• Do journaling / Write a blog
• Start a new business
• Take on an advanced LEADERSHIP role at work or in the community
• Start a new hobby
• Get rid of a lot of baggage
• Volunteer
• Learn a song
• WRITE a song / Write a poem
• Read something more challenging than you’ve ever read before
• Take a shopping cart INTO the grocery store from the parking lot
• Pick up somebody else’s trash
• Make your bed in the morning
• Kick a bad habit / Develop a new and BETTER one
• Go for TOTAL INTENTIONALITY

Tomorrow is coming, and it’s not going to be “Groundhog Day” / “Déjà Vu all over again.” (Yogi) 

If there’s fire in the oven, something needs to be in the pot baking. 

Let’s do something NEW and DIFFERENT.  It will make life not only more interesting but, hopefully, better.  See how many “FIRSTS” you can come up with today … and keep firing for BESTS as far and as long as the universe will allow!  Quartermaster 

NOTE: This entry was written just four days after Yogi Berra’s death on September 22, 2015.  It was not begun with Yogi specifically in mind; he just kept coming up in the fabrication.  In fact, Yogi Berra had an outstanding list of firsts and bests to his credit – more so than most of us ever would naturally aspire to or dream of.  Maybe we need to aspire higher! 

Trouble

Music has been one of my all-time favorite indulgences.  However, early on I knew I would never make it as a mainstream musician.  Moreover, I didn’t think I should float through life simply doing what I love to do.  So I put music mostly on the back burner when I entered college.  However, I got a little reprieve via enrolling in summer school following my junior year, so the first-semester of my senior year, I finally tried out for and was accepted into the regionally renowned Muskingum College A Cappella Choir. 

I didn’t realize what a benchmark experience that was going to be!  A passage in one of the choral selections kept coming back to haunt me, again and again, with these words:  “I do not regret me all the trouble I have been at to arrive where I am.”  I knew I had a long and difficult road ahead as an aspiring biomedical scientist, so this passage became my mantra – my manifesto … that I would never shy from nor regret the trouble that might lie between me and my chosen mission.

REST OF THE STORY

Years passed  … five years … ten years … twenty five years.  The more time that passed, the more curious I became about the original context of this passage.  However, my LP recording had long since disappeared and the college could not locate copies of either the recording or the original music in the archives.  But the words simply wouldn’t go away: “I do not regret me all the trouble I have been at to arrive where I am.”

Thirty seven years after graduation, during a period of voracious reading on foundational themes on the essence of life, I decided to tackle “The Pilgrim’s Progress” by John Bunyan. 

Imagine my surprise … delight … shock … and near synchronistic melt-down … to find the very passage I had been looking for and living with and without all those years – on the 4^th page from the very end of the book!  It was Bunyan’s “Mr. Valiant-for-Truth” who had been the source of this indomitable reflection all this time.  It’s actually much better than I remembered it: 

• “After this it was noised abroad that Mr. Valiant-for-Truth was taken with a summons …; When he understood it, he called his friends, and told them of it.  Then said he, ‘I am going [hence], and though with great difficulty I am got hither, yet now I do not repent me of all the trouble I have been at to arrive where I am.  My sword and shield, I give to him that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and skill to him that can get it.  My marks and scars I carry with me, to be a witness for me that I have fought [the] battle.’”  

Here are four follow-up questions worth pondering: 

HOW MUCH TROUBLE HAVE YOU BEEN AT

TO ARRIVE WHERE YOU ARE?

:::

HOW MUCH DOES THAT MATTER?

:::

IS THERE ANY UNSPARED EFFORT THAT YOU REGRET?

:::

ARE YOU NOW WHERE YOU NEED TO BE?

*************************************

The perception of what’s “Trouble” and what’s merely part of the journey makes a huge difference.  Boys Town, Nebraska, a town established to care for abandoned boys, carries the motto: 

“He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother.” 

If you can find a Mission or Purpose or Identity big enough, the troubles involved in pursuing it will be insignificant. 

“It ain’t heavy, it’s who I AM and what I DO.” 

I trust that your Mission, Purpose and Identity are indelibly inscribed on some gleaming goal post atop a glowing horizon.  Be PASSIONATE about who you are and what you do!   And don’t “trouble yourself” more than necessary by failing to pursue it with everything you’ve got.  Quartermaster

 

Mea Culpas

“Mea culpa is a Latin phrase that means "through my fault"

and is an acknowledgement of having done wrong.”

Wikipedia 

“Most of the trouble we encounter in life is our own damned fault!

[Paraphrase of notable, wisened sages] 

So why do we continue to do stuff that we – or someone – can rightfully predict we will regret later?  Regrets in life are many – ranging from things we did that we shouldn’t have done to things we did that are outright wrong. 

The reasons this happens are legion.  Let’s take a look:

• Lacking “rhyme” or “reason”, we simply do whatever we think of first next
• We don’t know any better
• We don’t care / We are care-less
• We think we can get away with it
• We’re subject to Peer-Pressure
• We’re subject to the pressure of GRATUITOUS INDULGENCE
• We count on everyone else’s forgiveness
• We claim mystical levels of magic, super-powers, luck, and Divine Grace
• We either know for a fact – or assume – that “everybody else does it”
• We’re “Special” / We deserve it
• We don’t want to miss anything
• We count on unconditional love to bail us out
• We assume our indiscretions will be overlooked … “just this once”
• We count on Delayed/Deferred/Defused Ramification
• We try to “Beat the System”
• We feel a compulsion to defy authority / We insist on freedom from restraint

However, there is also a “Real Earth” component in the equation here, acknowledging our humanity.  We are who we are and what we do is simply what we do.  That’s life!  For better or worse, we’re married to whoever it is we are, to whatever it is we do and to whatever comes of it.  We’re not from another planet, and are not about to leave the one we’re on!   And nobody wants to be labeled some sort of “freak”, “geek” or “Goody-Goody Two Shoes”.  We’ll simply keep doing what we do unless or until there is a compelling reason to do otherwise.  And, if there is some statute of limitations on donuts or chocolate cake, we’d like to know exactly what that is so we can, “by all rights”, get as much more of our “due” than “allowed” or than anyone else = BEATING THE SYSTEM = WINNING!  Ain’t life GRAND! 

Unfortunately, expressions of regret are also legion:

• “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing.”
• “I never saw it coming.”
• “I coulda done better.”
• “I shoulda done better.”
• “I didn’t realize it was all that important.”
• “If I only had one more chance!”

And then there are lots of excuses and explanations: 

• “Nobody ever told me that!”
• “That’s not my problem!”
• “I was only keeping up with the traffic.”
• “The dog ate my homework!”
• “I’m only human!”
• “Nobody’s perfect!” 

Unfortunately, there are consequences.  What’s left in the wake of ignorance, indiscretion and wanton willfulness – in addition to regret – is a pretty sobering fall-out, including: 

Anxiety … stress … anger … remorse … depression … health problems … lost opportunities … relationship problems … job losses … bankruptcies … 

Defining Moments and Moments of Truth tend to pile up.  And the un-piling becomes more intractable with time. 

Life is full of trade-offs.  We can trade off an awful lot of future possibilities to get what we want NOW, or we can trade off a few insignificant “junk bond” gratifications now (e.g., TV, video games, Tweeting & Twittering, sugar, salt and fat and lack of exercise) for much larger and more enduring gratifications later (e.g., career advancement, a productive hobby, enhanced health and wellbeing and enhanced self-esteem).  Our choice! 

[Check out the Stanford Marshmallow Experiment at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_marshmallow_experiment] 

The good news is it’s a pretty safe bet that you will not regret all the trouble you have been at to arrive at the very best place you can be. 

Own up to your ‘Culpas’ and get with the program!!

KNOW better, DO better,

and look forward to some outstanding rewards!”

Quartermaster

The Human Biome

"Most human diseases, behaviors and traits involve a combination of the genes we got from our parents as well as events we experience in our everyday lives, especially in utero and as children. You might even throw some microbes, or the lack thereof, into the predictive equations. Many of the conditions that seem to run in families, such as cancer, depression, intelligence, asthma, athletic prowess, height, addiction, happiness, autism, hypertension, musical talent, body weight, childhood aggression, longevity, altruism, heart disease, and schizophrenia, are part heredity and part environment. [Those families drink the same water, eat a similar diet, have music in their culture – or not, share various stresses, adopt similar habits, etc.]”  Evolving Ourselves: How Unnatural Selection and Nonrandom Mutation are Changing Life on Earth Juan Enriquez and Steve Gullans, Penguin Group 2015 p. 63 

The long and the short of it all is that we can – and DO – substantially influence our own welfare and wellbeing by real-life exposures and experiences … whatever our genetic blueprint. 

One can’t help marvel at Jimmy Carter living a zest-filled life to the age of 90+ despite a family history riddled with early-age deaths from pancreatic and other cancers. 

Aberrations occur.  One can’t help being stumped by George Burns living to be 100+ despite smoking cigars all his life! 

Burns notwithstanding, what we smoke, what we eat, what we drink, the time we spend in the sun, the time we spend with friends/on the job/in front of the TV/on the Smart Phone, how much we worry, how much exercise we get, and the drugs we take can dramatically affect our performance and possibilities.  Elite athletes don’t “tune” their bodies with Ding Dongs and pork rinds (although their metabolism would probably handle the empty calories and chemical additives a lot better than that of a couch potato!)   And one certainly doesn’t put diesel fuel or sugar water into a race car or feed cheese cake to a race horse. 

With all the things we can do – good OR bad – to impact our welfare and well being, the combined impact of the unperturbed moment, the compulsion for Immediate Gratification, the street-wise bravado of defying constraint and common sense, and an indigenous reliance on Delayed Ramification can foil even the highest order genetic blueprint or best of intentions. 

So how do we manage?  It turns out that the PSYCHOME is the most powerful component of the BIOME in our armamentarium for successful passage.  As the brain is equipped, so goes life.  While IQ is more or less “fixed”, content and contextualization are not.  We can fill the tabula rasa with fantasies, fluff, fixations, and fabrications, or with facts, fundamentals, fortifications and fulfillable Dreams.  Content matters!  Contextualization matters!  Inclination matters!  A true-reckoning map of the world and how it works matters!  And who’s driving matters! 

Executive Function should be our "Designated Driver".  Executive Function governs what goes in and goes on in the workings, and is one of TWO defining attributes of the Psychome that will make or break us – including our genome.  Executive Function employs the following tools: Discipline, Structure, Judgment/Rationality, Certifiable Principles and Practices, Editing (sifting, sorting, sanctioning, carding, discarding … ), Delayed Gratification, Visioning, Vectoring, Goal Setting and Goal Tending, Planning, Prioritization, Analysis/Assessment/Evaluation/Accountability Monitoring, Engagement of Virtues over Vices. 

Emotional Intelligence is the second defining attribute of the human Psychome required for success.  Daniel Goleman (Emotional Intelligence, Bantam Books, New York, 1995, p. 8) points out that we have two minds: one that thinks (Executive Function) and one that feels (Emotional Intelligence).  Key elements of Emotional Intelligence include: Self-Awareness, Self-Direction, Self-Efficacy, Motivation/”Zeal”, Attitude, Passion Policing, Endurance/Persistence, Sociability, Impulse Control, Managing Disappointment and Loss. 

So what can one do to enhance Executive Function and Emotional Intelligence? 

Some of us have to work harder than others, but enhancement IS possible! 

First, we need to do away with a lot of preconceived notions and small pond thinking and look toward higher and more distant horizons.  Then we need to start “mining” the universe for all of the raw material we can acquire to build our “something like a star” LIFEOME (LIFE-O-ME).  [NOTE: Executive Function needs significant materiality to manage or it will atrophy!] 

Next we need a lot of real-world experience, mentoring, socialization, research and experimentation while “sharpening the saw” (enhancing our understanding, refining our skills, and revisioning our possibilities, Stephen Covey).

Finally, and fundamentally, we need to understand that, while the possibilities in life are ultimately and inextricably bounded by the genome, the most positive outcomes are absolutely not going to happen without getting the higher-order “omics” properly engaged.  And we need to force the issue: Give the Psychome and Lifeome proper nurturing!  DON'T POISON them or fill them with trash and trivialities!  Feed them some real capacitizing and coping capital.  Aerate them – get them moving – give them exercise.  Stretch them to full capacity – take on big Dreams … big challenges and see what they can do.  A properly tuned and turned Psychome and Lifeome can make the Biome shine like the diamond it really can be, even with all its imperfections.  I can’t wait to see yours sparkle!  

Quartermaster