TODAY IS THE DAY BEFORE TOMORROW
Tuesday, December 6, 2022
In the short term, but for the long run …
We rationalize everything we can do next week, month, or year – and sometimes, we discard things we realize aren’t worthy enough or better than other priorities. Some we hand off to others, and some we discard. And some are well worth someone’s time, but we forget because then the next new thang comes across the transom …
We chase opportunities, I believe, in a similar fashion to how we react when hungry and groceries come into the house – it’s an irrational scramble for the quickest, tastiest something we can eat without delays caused by preparation and patience.
Some days, hunger isn’t required – the arrival of the groceries triggers a reaction Dr. Pavlov would love to study. He’d surely consult with Dr. Maslow and Dr. Frankl because our hierarchy of needs gets so easily cross-threaded that the self-actualization part is distracted all day long by every kind of interruption, to say nothing of squirrels crossing our paths.
But this food is symbolic/metaphorical because it illustrates so well that every bit of communication, conversation and in-box activity has a morsel-esque quality, tantalizing us mildly or feeding a voracious appetite for information that will lead to our business objectives being met or exceeded.
We have evolved from lower forms of life for only a short while, so it is no wonder that our actions and reactions aren’t far removed from animal traits. Lizard brains, squirrels scratching the dirt everywhere they might have stored a nut, barracuda-like competitors ready to snatch our lunch, while at the same time hungry bears and breaching wales devour or swamp anything in their path or swamped by their wake …
When we are young, we scramble, scratch and run hard – but in the fullness of time, we realize we cannot outrun someone with a better idea, a grand-scale plan or deeper pockets. We can’t have it all or be first every time, but we can advance a long way by collaborating with those we can imagine sharing the spoils in proportion to the value we add and skill sets we bring. We work best alone, but we’ll work happier and more effectively when we share in a fair-ish way with trusty-ish people. As Ronald Reagan used to say, “trust, but verify.”
I’m back into go-hard mode after a few days of R&R with family and friends, great food and daytime driving in good road conditions and decent driving weather.
And tomorrow, the 7th, will be a light-work day, as I prefer when possible; the 7th is an occasion; I’ll be 36 years sober. As any alcoholic will likely similarly say about their experiences, the staying sober part is picnic-like when compared with the hell-ish mess our lives are before we quit. At the same time, we play 3-dimensional chess in our heads while we struggle to quit, and during those early days when we want to feel strong and confident that we’ve actually quit for good, but we white-knuckle our way for days, for weeks, and after a few months we can rest a while. In time vigilance and understanding our addiction keeps us sober. That doesn’t prevent other addiction-potential from teasing us – to eat, to engage in retail therapy, or other excessive and compulsive behaviours.
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