Mystery Solved

I woke up early this morning. I reached for my phone to check the time and calculate how long before the alarm was due to go off. For some reason, I had trouble seeing the screen. My vision is usually clear in the morning, but today, it was blurry. I wiped my eyes and concluded that the air conditioning had dried out the apartment. 

I went to the bathroom and then returned to the bed to sleep a bit longer before rising for work. As I cleaned up, I noticed an oily residue around the edges of my eyes, which was very unusual. Once again, I blamed it on the air conditioning. 

After getting dressed, I went out by the door where I keep my briefcase and camera bag ready to go. After spending a few minutes deciding what items to take with me today, I realized that I could see. I mean, I could see everything clearly. 

The mystery was solved. I had forgotten to take my contact lenses out before I went to bed last night. No wonder my eyes were complaining!

Rising Above Bigotry

Mankind will never be rid of bigotry. There will always be a hateful, petty segment of society, but we can rise above these fringe elements.  It’s important  to set high standards and expectations for behavior and to not let the hateful, and the demagogues who fan the flames of base emotion, gain political power and social legitimacy. In this area, human society has tragically stumbled in recent years. We need to get back on track in a hurry.

The Search For Contentment

It’s healthy to work toward improving your life, learning new skills, managing your mood, improving your fitness, etc. But it is equally important not to let dissatisfaction creep into your thoughts and dominate your mood. 

Think of it this way. You’re not getting any younger, and life isn’t going to get easier. In ten or twenty years, you won’t be able to do all of the things that you can do today. You’ll have less strength and vitality. Your senses and your mobility could be impaired, at least partially. Does it make sense to feel disappointed about things that you can do today, when in the future you will almost certainly be able to do less?

Enjoy everything that you have in your life right now and appreciate everything that you can do, even if it seems modest, even if it doesn’t appear to measure up to someone else’s level of success and ability. Forget about other people. They’re not you, and they are not in control of your happiness. Comparing yourself to others is a fool’s errand. Someone, somewhere on a planet of seven billion souls is going to be better than you are. So what? It’s not important. Focus on yourself and your own life. Enjoy what’s going on with you in this moment. The blessings that you count today are not guaranteed to be yours forever. 

Nothing is more critical to your emotional well-being than being satisfied with who you are on this day and  in this moment. If you can manage that, if you can feel earnest contentment in mind, body, and soul, everything else in your life will be manageable. Conversely, if you cannot figure out a way to feel good about yourself in your current, imperfect state, then nothing that you do, nothing that you buy, and no person that you meet or goal that you pursue will ever bring you a sense of true and lasting fulfillment. You can chase rainbows forever; their gold will remain out of reach.

Copyright © 2019 Daniel R. South 

All Rights Reserved

Today

Today’s date is 6/9. Share that with someone you love.

A Productive Bargain

I love it when I want something, when I really want something badly, when I am overwhelmed by an obsessive, passionate craving for something that I might not need, but I desire it so profoundly that I can’t stop thinking about it, day or night. I love these moments, because they give me the opportunity to strike a productive and highly motivating bargain with myself.

“Okay,” I propose, “here is a list of goals that are important to me. They are challenging, and it will take some effort to accomplish them. But once you have completed everything on this list, I’ll let you have your prize.”

Everything on that list is going to get done.

Don’t Call It A Bug

If you didn’t specify what you wanted, don’t call it a bug when you receive something different. Call it a wish that you failed to express, a dream that you neglected to disclose, a secret desire that you never shared with the one person who could have made it come true. Call it that, because my inability to read your mind is not a bug. It’s a feature.

Nothing Is More Amazing

Nothing is more amazing 

Than the Heart 

Mind 

Body 

and 

Spirit 

of a Woman

Bold, Rebellious, and Arrogant

Be bold. Be rebellious. Be arrogant when you have to, but never be meek. You are worth too much. Your ideas are too valuable to sacrifice them to the scrap heap of conformity. Let the world hear your voice.

New York Minute 147 - Business Lunch

Yesterday, I had lunch with a business contact who came in from out of town. I took her to a restaurant near my office. The weather was pleasant, so we sat at an outdoor table.

About halfway through the lunch, I saw my colleague’s eyes open up wide as she noticed someone on the sidewalk. “That’s my mom!” she exclaimed with surprise as she stood up and dashed away.

It wasn’t a huge coincidence - her mother works a couple of blocks from my office and likes to take midday walks - but it was just a cute illustration of what can happen in a city where people spend more time walking than driving. You never know who you’re going to run into.

My colleague brought her mother over to the table, and we exchanged pleasantries briefly before the lady continued on her walk. A short time later, my colleague lamented, “My mom always asks me to have lunch with her when I come to New York, but I never have time.”

“Next time, tell your boss that you’re going to have lunch with me,” I offered. “Then we can cancel, and you can take your mother out instead.”

Copyright © 2019 Daniel R. South 

All Rights Reserved

Unintended Consequences

If you argue that we should ban all abortions because some people have sex irresponsibly, should we ban all churches because some clergy abuse children? Should we ban all cars because some people drive drunk?

Should we ban all guns because some people commit violent crimes? Should we ban all sports because some people bet on the game?

“Some people abuse it; therefore, we should take it away from everyone.” Do you see the flaw in that logic? That was the rationale used to justify the prohibition of alcohol, which led to a wave of tragic and violent consequences.