Fortunately She Liked Me And Didn’t Hold A Grudge

Lately I’ve found myself considering certain times from my childhood, and today I found myself thinking of a particular interaction I had with a teacher of mine.  With the benefit of perspective, I can absolutely say that I should not have said to her, “I’ll have you know the sand has shifted.”

In my defense, however, any experienced middle school teacher (as she was) should know it’s just asking for trouble to say in front of their class, “I’ll have you know I had an hourglass figure in college, and I have an hourglass figure now.”

He Agreed That Was One Really Good Reason Not To Eat

Today L. and I were talking about how to evaluate situations, solutions, etc. by their pros and cons.  Recognizing that “quality vs. quantity” can come into play in making those decisions, my son asked me for an example of a situation with a lot of pros, but with one large con.

“Imagine you’ve been invited to a banquet in your honor,” I told him.  “All your favorite foods have been prepared, and they’re all done to perfection.  Everything looks amazing, smells amazing, tastes amazing, and so on.  That’s a lot of pros, right?”

L. nodded.

“The con is that everything has been poisoned,” I said with a chuckle.

So Today I Was Victorious

Sometimes just crossing the finish line is the victory.

Going Out A Hull Breach In Space Comes To Mind

Yesterday’s snark aside, I really do appreciate the wisdom of being able to go with the flow.  Sometimes the flow is going in the direction you want to go, and sometimes the direction it’s going is just nice if you take the time to notice.  Even when the flow is going somewhere you profoundly don’t want to, fighting directly against it is usually counterproductive, but that doesn’t mean going with the flow is always the best idea.

 

At Least One Person Out There Anticipated Where I Was Going With This

As a follow-up to yesterday’s post, I wanted to add that the dogs get so depressed at their “failure” that it’s now fairly common for trainers to arrange for the dog to “find” a volunteer so the dog can feel like a good dog again even in situations where success was impossible.

I’m not kidding when I say this is a life changing insight for me.

I Feel Bad For The Dogs, But Better About Myself

The other day I read that search and rescue dogs have been known to become depressed when they fail to find people even if there are no people to find and their “failure” is no fault of theirs.

Somehow the world made a little more sense to me after learning that.

The Kind Of Fool Who Knows It’s A Worse Idea To Do It In A Storm

Thought upon waking this morning:  I don’t feel like doing anything today, and I don’t have to do anything today!

Thought less than two hours later:  Annnnnd here I am cleaning gutters in the rain.  What kind of fool cleans gutters in the rain?

Stormy Days

When things get rough, I’m just not one of those people who feels the need to ascribe beauty to an ugly situation.  Yes, I’ve seen storms that have been as beautiful as they were terrifying, but that didn’t make the aftermath any less horrific.

Just Something That’s Been On My Mind Lately

A fool’s paradise is a wise man’s hell!

– Thomas Fuller

(This is the closest I could get to attribution for the idea that “One person’s Heaven is another person’s Hell.”)

Sometimes You Need To Consider The Alternatives

“They keep playing ‘encouragement’ songs in my class!” my son complained today.

“Would you prefer they play discouragement songs about what a terrible day it’s going to be and how nothing is going to go right?” I asked him.

“No!” he laughed.

“There you go then,” I told him.