Month: June 2023

We think we can be fully engaged with our loved ones once we clear the deck.

But that’s an illusion. It’s the other way around.

There’s always something else to do. Another fire to put out. And what we must decide what are we willing to let go in order to focus on what is most important.

The older you get the more you have to say goodbye to the things you used to do.

The high dive doesn’t seem worth it. Skiing at high speeds seems foolish and your days of cave diving seem like a distant memory.

It isn’t just the physical capabilities but also your hopes, dreams, and aspirations can begin to fade. (This is also why become more rigid with age.)

However, what we used to do doesn’t determine what we can be.

We can focus on what opportunities we have now instead of dwelling on how things used to be.

While the future is uncertain, the past is determined.

People can evolve, we can morph, and we can change.

When we are open to seeing the good in people, our capacity of seeing good in the world increases.

When we are optimistic about the world it is no doubt it gets better.

When we are pessimistic about it, we find what we are looking for.

We need to be reminded to give ourselves a break when we fall short.

But we also need to be reminded to give others a break too.

When is the last time you did that? Just totally forgave someone and moving on with no repercussions or reciprocity.

That is an bold act of courage—to forgive and forget.

When the boss calls with an assignment, most people take it without much objection.

The question, I have is why do we need a boss to tell us what to do next?

In fact, why do we need a call from anyone to take any action? We shouldn’t need to be asked. We can also choose to notice things and decide where we can best help each other. That’s a choice.

It’s great to react when someone asks for help, it’s another thing to initiate.

We are far more likely to quit when we view life as a game we can win or lose.

The virtual dollars on a screen, the number of subscribers, what the grades looked like, how happy one feels…

That is also the source of so much burnout. If we become so attached to the outcome, we miss so many of the lessons to be learned. We think that if we win, then we will be happy.

Good mental health is not the absence of suffering. The goal is not to be without sadness or to feel good all the time. No, good mental health is having the appropriate response to outside stimuli. It is having a good sense of locus of control. It is about resiliency. Connections with people who you want to share this journey with.

It is a shame when the world beats people down so hard that they find themselves not trying anymore. Often what is missing is the perspective. You are not going to make it through without feeling the “bad stuff” along the way.

We can think about solving problems efficiently or innovatively. Often we confuse the two though. If we become more efficient at putting Part A to Part B together faster today than yesterday it must be innovative. It certainly can be innovative to come up with a new technique or machine or idea to do things better, safer, faster, and more reliably. However, the kind of innovation we see is not baby steps but a giant leap. We want to see a whole new approach to solving a problem we didn’t think needed to be solved. Which takes insight, luck, and seeing things that others can’t.

If you don’t have a system that supports you, you learn to live without it.

Of course, it doesn’t mean you don’t miss the ideal of what things could look like.

Missing pieces of a completed puzzle always capture the most attention.

In Greek Mythology, Pandora was the first woman ever created by Hephaestus under the watch of Zeus. Pandora is translated as “gift” or “all endowed”. And that is what the gods gave her. Lots of gifts such as beauty and intellect. But they also gave her curiosity.

One day, the gods decided to test her curiosity. As the allegory goes, Pandora was given a box and was instructed to never open it. Of course, she eventually does, and to her surprise, all the plagues and terrible creatures of the world escape. When Pandora tries to close the box it is too late.

It’s a story of why bad things happen. But it is fiction. And we can tell ourselves all sorts of stories of why this stuff happens but in the end, we tell the ones that help us cope.

We don’t flinch walking towards an automatic sliding door. We trust that as we approach the door it is going to slide open and we can walk through without delay.

There are so many things we rely on on a regular basis to work perfectly, we don’t even realize how much is automated unless it breaks. For instance:

The refrigerator will keep your food cold.

Your car will start in the morning.

The water coming out of the tap is clean.

The lights will turn on.

This email will be received by the person you sent it to.

The street light will eventually turn green.

The airplane can fly safely in the air.

Your toilet will flush.

Your heart will still beat.

Your lungs will still work.

That Earth will continue to rotate.

The sun will still shine in the morning.

That gravity is constant.

And on, and on, and on.

Everything we do, we rely on someone or something else to do it. It’s all built upon each other. And while automation has made life so much easier in so many ways, it is also scary to see where it goes. More importantly, we must remember the culture just works better when we are all in sync.