Something That Came Out Of A Conversation With My Son This Morning

Frequently the “boring” stuff is also the most important stuff.

Something To Keep In Mind

Normally, son, I don’t like referencing a lesson here when we covered it in person only yesterday, but this one is important enough I thought it warranted the exception:

Remember, whatever mess you make when you’re upset is the same mess you’re going to have to deal with when you’re no longer upset.

Just Remember That It IS Possible

Like I was telling you earlier today, son, the ability to see possibilities where others see none is incredibly useful, but equally useful is the ability to recognize the choices before you and being able to pick one. Ideally you’ll pick the best one, but sometimes there won’t be a clear “best one,” and you may still have to pick. This may feel impossible at times, but if you can manage to do it anyway, you’ll be at a level that most people never reach.

Step Five (And Six)

Now, to the best of your ability, go do the right thing.  Yes, people will argue with you endlessly about what exactly “the right thing” is, and that’s okay, but when it’s time for you to act, you’re going to have to be the one to do it, and you’re the one that’s going to have to live with what you do.  Remember that, and do your best to be your best.

(And my son asked me to add that it’s okay to hope, just don’t let hope become a form of denial.  He’s right too.  It’s not only okay to hope, it’s good to hope!  A ten percent chance of success, even a one percent chance, is still better than no chance at all, and if that’s your best option, better that you take it than just give up.  Just take those chances with your eyes open and as much as possible, a serene heart.  Remember, the Valkyrie don’t just pick from the winning side.)

Step Four

You pilot always into an unknown future; facts are your single clue. Get the facts!

– Robert A. Heinlein

(But remember they are clues!  Like I referenced yesterday, it was a fact no big animals lived in the area; that fact alone didn’t necessarily preclude the possibility of something big being in the area.  New facts come in all the time.  Use them!)

Step Three

Don’t go into denial.  Time wasted on Can’ts, Musts, and Buts is time better spent on the actual situation.  Put another way, stopping to explain to the tiger that it can’t possibly be in your backyard isn’t the best use of your time.

(Take it from someone who as a kid ran inside after a stray firework startled something that sounded big that was hiding in the underbrush, and I was promptly assured that no big animals lived anywhere near there.  While this was true as far as it goes, the next day I heard about a train load of circus animals that had escaped following a nearby crash, so . . . you know, I still feel pretty good about going inside.)

Step Two

When in doubt, see Step One, because as Adam Savage has rightly said, “Calm people live, tense people die.“

Step One

Don’t Panic

– The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

I’m Fine, Just A Bruise And A Scrape On One Elbow (But My Pride May Take Some Time To Recover)

Speaking of overconfidence . . . 

Here’s a pro-tip for you:  If you’re trying to sit in a hammock in the dark, pay more attention to what you’re doing than to the antics of the ecstatic happy puppy at your feet lest you suddenly find yourself “Gilligan’s Island-ing” heels over head to land on your elbows on the concrete beneath you.

Today I Think I’ll Just Keep It Simple

Happy New Year!

(And if anyone ever gifts you one of those bottles sealed with a plastic cork, don’t repeat my mistake of trying to open the damn thing, and just throw it away.  Seriously.)