What are your Stilts?

Today, I was talking to someone who has only recently begun reading my blog.  Well, "recently" compared to how long I have been writing it, anyway.  I mentioned my "King's Stilts" blog and, of course, she had not seen it.  So, I went searching through the archives, thinking the time to republish it might be at hand.  Well, apparently, while I have republished it on "Echoes of Snippets," I don't believe I have ever posted it here.  And because it was written more than eight years ago, when my blogging was sporadic and my blog was hosted on a lesser site, it makes sense to reprise it in the current Snippets and Wisps venue. 

And so, without further ado, and only slight revisions, I give you ...

What Are Your Stilts?


The late, great Theodore Geisel (nom de plume: Dr. Seuss) wrote many excellent stories. This is not news. Many of them are allegorical, or at the very least, metaphorical. One of his lesser-known books serves as an example of how I like to run my work life, as well as my leisure life. That book is The King's Stilts. 

In this book, the King (Betram) had a great work ethic. He got up early, started working, and "When he worked, he worked very, very hard." And he worked very, very hard, all day, every day -- until quitting time. 

At quitting time, he stopped working, and he played. And "When he played, he played very, very hard." And what did he play with? The King's Stilts, of course. 

I think I need to build a motivational speech out of the many lessons this book can teach. In our culture, there seems to be an unwritten rule that, to be truly successful, you must devote yourself to your job and forsake fun -- or even outside responsibilities. 

I think that some people can be that single-minded. But most of us need balance. And part of that balance is finding our "stilts" and playing with them regularly.  By the way, I do not think the choice of "stilts" as the King's leisure obsession was arbitrary or serendipitous.  Seuss was too much of a genius for that.  No, stilts are perfect for this story precisely because Bertram excelled at Balance.

Like any good story, The King's Stilts has conflict. It centers around what happens when the King is convinced to give up his stilts. I will not spoil it for those who have not read the story, but believe me, a King without his Stilts is not as good at his job. 

I have several diversions, each of which provides me with something I need to be well-rounded and productive. I have games, like Magic: the Gathering, which challenges my mind. I have Dungeons and Dragons, which allows me to be creative and lets me have some time with my sons and daughters.  I have running, which helps keep me fit, and gives me a reason to be outdoors. I have my DVD habit, which allows me to escape into someone else's imagination, while sharing time and experience with my family. There are more, but the point is the same -- each of the activities refreshes me and builds me up, and that allows me to return to my job and work very, very hard. 

What about you?  What are your "stilts?"  Do you view them as guilty pleasures?  Or are they an acknowledged, welcomed part of your life? 

In my view, they are blessings. Count them. Appreciate them. Enjoy them. 

And when you enjoy them, enjoy them Very, very hard.

................................

Originally published under the title "The King's Stilts" on September 8, 2004.

The Meaning of Goodbye

On Sunday I said goodbye to my daughter, Leah, and my wife Sherry, as they headed back to school.  For five weeks, I had been able to share our home with them while they were between semesters.  As I said goodbye, I fully realized it was over.

Soon, Leah will be graduating and heading into the "real world" of life as an actress.  This was one of the few, last, precious times I would see her living "at home."

Sherry still lives here, of course, but she spends her weeks living in the apartment by the University, and she was beginning a two-week absence from our home. I knew I would miss her.  I always do.  It's just harder to get accustomed to when we've spent some significant time together, as we had over the Christmas break.

This moment -- the goodbye -- reminded me again that the most important things in my life are not "things" at all.  They are people.  The relationships I have are so important.  And, because I would be having a chance to see some friends this week, I let myself be melancholy for a little while, but then I started the anticipation of the fun I could have with my friends.

Missing someone who is important to you can coexist with enjoying other people.  Being able to experience both longing and enjoyment at the same is part of a healthy life, for it allows us to live in the present, while simultaneously appreciating the past and looking forward to the future.

Why I Won't Buy Appliances from Sears Ever Again

Normally, I write positive blogs.

So, Sears, please take this as some constructive criticism.

Over the years, we've had to call in for service many times on things we bought at Sears.  Over the years, the people handling the calls have gotten more competent and more professional and more pleasant.  Good for you.

But.  But there is one thing which has remained a constant inadequacy in your service for years.  I illustrate with my most recent example.

When I scheduled a service call for my treadmill, it went something like this:

The pleasant lady thanked me for calling Sears and tried to get me to accept a "free consultation" so they could try to sell me new flooring, or doors, or a roof or whatever.  I said "No, thank you, that will never happen."

"Why?" she asked.

"Let's schedule my appointment for the treadmill repair.  Then we can discuss the 'consultation.'"

"OK, sir, how about next Tuesday?" she offered.  Wow, just two working days from when I called.  Promising, but I knew what was coming.

"No, Tuesday doesn't work for me.  How about Friday?" I said.

"Yes, sir, we can have a repair person out on Friday," she said.

"And when can they be here?" I asked, fully knowing the reply.

"Between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM," was her answer.

"I have to be home in the afternoon for another reason.  Can we make it sometime after 1:00 but before 5:00?"

"I'm sorry sir, I can't do that." She sounded sincerely sorry.

"And that, ma'am, is exactly why I will never accept a 'consultation' from your employer, or buy something from them that might ever need repair again.  If your business cannot be more considerate of my time than to expect me to be home on a work day for nine straight hours, then I will shop at an establishment which can run its business more efficiently.  But thanks for the offer."

I like my treadmill.  But when I replace it, I won't buy the replacement from Sears.  8:00 - 5:00?  Really?

I don't ever say this, but I will say it now. 

#fail

Suitable for Marian? (The Librarian)

In "The Music Man", Marian Peroo -- a librarian -- sings "Being in Love" to explain to her mother that, while she loves the idea of being in love, she is still single because she hasn't found the right man.  When describing what she's looking for, she lists a few necessary conditions:

All I want is a plain man.
All I want is a modest man.
A quiet man, a gentle man
A straightforward and honest man
To sit with me in a cottage somewhere in the state of Iowa...
And I would like him to be more interested in me
Than he's in himself and more interested in us than in me...


Then after those, she lists one more thing on her wish list:


And if occasionally he'd ponder
What makes Shakespeare and Beethoven great.
Him I could love 'til I die.


Well, gee Marian.  A couple of months ago, I talked about Shakespeare. Yesterday, it was Beethoven.

But I'm afraid I'm already spoken for.



You'll have to settle for Harold.

To give her proper credit though, this line

And I would like him to be more interested in me
Than he's in himself and more interested in us than in me...

should be rule number 1 when looking for a marriage partner (insert  "her" and "she" if appropriate).

So Marian got that right.

At the Threshold

How do you view life?  Positively?  Negatively?  Do you view the future with fear, or resignation?  Or do you view the future with hope, or expectancy?

The typical description people often use is "glass half-full, or glass half-empty" but this is simply too trivial a metaphor.  In small things, such as glasses of water, people can behave one way, yet in their attitude towards life they might more often behave the other.

Truth be told, few of us are all together one way or the other.  I think a more apt analogy is this.

We are, each of us, at a threshold.  An entrance, which is also an exit.

On one side of this threshold is open sky, warm sunlight, fresh air, green trees.  On the other side is a cave, protected from the elements, but dark, hard and cold.

When we stand at the threshold looking towards the open air, we can see the possibility of success, of help, of friendship.  We can see other people out in the open air, and we can see how they are doing.

But when we get scared, when a cloud covers the sun, or the wind turns bitter, we tend to retreat into the cave.  We face inward.  We enter a place where the only things we can see clearly, if at all, are just at our own skin.  And if we go too deep, we cannot see at all.   We only know what we can feel.

There can be a perception of security when we first enter the cave, but before long we start imagining all of the dangers which might lurk in the cave with us.  To be sure, some danger might be there, but we imagine far, far more than truly exists.

Which direction we face is a choice.  The result of the choice is a viewpoint. 

Do you spend time believing that the world, or people in the world, or the great unknown are actively against you?  Or do you feel alone, cold, unsure where to go?  Are you paying attention to how you feel, without even seeing others around you?  Then you are facing the depths of the cave.  You might even be walking deeper into those depths.

If you can turn around, and walk out into the open, if you can get to a place where you see the light shining all around you, you will also see that the light shines on others, as well.  You will see that the world is happening to all of us.  If it is sunny, we can all enjoy it. If a cloud covers the sun for one of us, another stands in the newly revealed sunlight.  And if it rains, we can band together to build shelters for many.

I know people who have, by any external measure, a very good life, who are, nevertheless worried and distressed.  And I know people who have had many hardships -- hardships which would cause despair in most people -- who actively love life and the people in their life.  

We hear stories of people who face disaster, or extreme illness, with what we call a heroic attitude, who have an appreciation of life we admire.  These people were faced with the choice of which direction to face, and they turned away from the cave.

Making that decision, facing the light of the world, does not require that we have first faced destruction, death or disease.  We all, each of us, can choose to face the wide open world and see the possibilities.  There may still be dangers, pitfalls and pain in the cave behind us, but we can choose not to dwell with them.

We may stumble.  We may turn back at times, when faced with a cold wind, but if we make up our mind to face the sun, we will live, love and laugh more fully than we ever would, in a cave.


[995]

"Find What You're Looking For" - Wisdom from Amy Grant

 Amy Grant's most recent album, Somewhere Down the Road, contains a song called "Find What You're Looking For."

Like so many great songs, its lyrics speak to us in layers.  I think about part of the lyrics very often these days:

• There’s so much good in the worst of us 

• So much bad in the best of us 

• It never makes sense for any of us 

• To criticize the rest of us

Honestly, isn't that enough?  Couldn't we just stop there and have a lesson to ponder, to internalize, to commit to?

We demonize those who do not agree with us, but each of them is someone's child.  Someone loves each of us, or did.  And each of us loves someone, or did.  And only the psychopathic among us -- and there are very few of these, despite the cynical humor the guilty will use -- only the psychopathic try to do evil, knowing it to be evil. The rest of us try to live within a moral code.  And yet, all of us get it wrong, at least sometimes.

Yes, that lesson is plenty for one song.

But she doesn't stop there.

• We’ll just find what we’re looking for 

• We’ll find it and so much more

This is so true.  If you think you will find something in my actions, in my words, you have a tendency to find it.  We don't listen to one another.  We can, but we often don't.  And then we demonize.  Oh, and if we look, we can find mistakes people have made, and then demonize them some more, because they have made the mistake.  Yet, as the song says:

• Haven’t we all learned the best life lessons 

• By falling, and falling down hard 

• If we’re looking for somebody’s failures 

• We won’t have to look very far

 And that, too, is so true.

John 8:7:

⁷When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”

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Lyrics, and background quote from Amy, taken from here.

Quotes - Madness and Art

"You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it."
Robin Williams

I found this quote in the Kid in the Front Row blog. The blog is about filmmaking. I loved the quote, because it's about much more than filmmaking.

And then, right above where the blog author put that Robin Williams quote, he had this marvelous paragraph.


The world may seem like it's run by the people who greenlight superhero movies, and maybe it is. But meanwhile, there's a lot we can be doing and we don't need to feel oppressed, or depressed; or like outsiders. Instead, we can just make art and whether our audience is ten million people, or ten; that's exactly how it's meant to be right now and that's enough. Those ten people love you, and they're gonna tell all their friends, and their friends are gonna do the same.

Earlier this week, my good friend Mike needed to hear this message. And there are times when I think Lucas would be helped by it. And I am quite sure Leah will. In fact, we all do -- all of us who indulge our creative desires, as well as all those who don't indulge them for fear of too small an audience.

Just make art.

Augustine - Quoteworthy

If we did not have rational souls, we would not be able to believe.
Saint Augustine

In the spirit of my recent blog about making wise thoughts our own, I recommend this: find a few people who were well known for their wisdom, and revisit their thoughts on occasion.

Augustine of Hippo (St. Augustine) was one of these people. His quote above is one of many.

Of course, people such as Augustine also wrote longer works, which are worthy of more intensive reading. A major figure in Christian history, he expressed through his writings many deep and powerful ideas which continue to influence philosophy, theology and Christian thought. Augustine was one of the earliest and strongest supporters of the need to integrate the interpretation of scripture with the truths revealed in scientific knowledge.

Great as his long works are, in our daily lives it is often quite useful to have these shorter words of wisdom easily at hand. And so, with that in mind, I give you another:

God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.
Saint Augustine

And one more, which is always challenging to learn, to one's heart:

Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others.
Saint Augustine

Stop, Look, Ask, Walk

A friend of mine is facing the frustrations of his job not being fulfilling, of circumstances placing difficult obstacles in his way, of despairing for a new direction. He sent an e-mail asking me to respond with thoughts. I sent an initial reply, but then... But then....

This Sunday, while attending a church in another city to celebrate the baptism of my goddaughter's children, the sermon contained the following verse with some good advice. It's probably good any time, but certainly when faced with difficult choices that may have been brought about by trying to rely too much on yourself.

Jeremiah 6:16 (New Living Translation)

Israel Rejects the Lord’s Way

¹⁶ This is what the Lord says:
“Stop at the crossroads and look around.
Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it.
Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls.
But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want!’

The pastor preached on the verbs -- the "steps" to take when facing trouble in your life:
Stop, Look, Ask, Walk -- and the promised result "rest for your soul."

Of course in Jeremiah's day, Israel wasn't having any of it. [Thus, the end of the verse.] But it sounded like a message my friend might need to hear. And, egotistically, it sounded something like what I told him in my first response. I had said "You do need to decide what you really want, and then make a plan to get there, and stick to it."

Of course the verse is suggesting that you find what God wants for you, rather than what you want for yourself. The best result is if those are the same. In any case, the advice seems good.

Stop: Find some time to get all of the distractions out of your head. That may be taking a walk, or finding a quiet place in a library or museum and sitting. Away from the distractions of your home.

Look: Examine the options, the things that are troubling you, the roadblocks you've seen (whether placed there by yourself, others, or The Fates).

Ask: What are your most important goals? What absolutely must be taken care of before the goals can be reached? What is going to be GOOD? Good for you, and good in general. And if you need to ask others for ideas, do it.

Walk: Take action. And once begun, finish it. When you are done, you will be in a new place.

I sent this to my friend as a second response, and then I said to myself "You know, I need to remember this. For myself, if for no one else. I've needed to hear this before, and I will need to again."

So, here it is. The blog for today.

Be well, my friends.

Quote - "Every Day"

Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to be always part of unanimity.

- Christopher Morley



The world may be too big to ensure that no one else is doing these things. But in this age of homogenized news and schism-inducing opinion, it helps to rememeber ...

Think for yourself.

Stress Relief? First Start. Then Stop.

Lately much of the stress in my life is caused by the long list of things that have to be done. Most of these are lengthy projects -- and since my days don't often provide me with long periods of time to attack long projects, I have a habit of moving on to short tasks and leaving longer ones until later.

Then, at night, I wake up stressing that I have so many big projects to complete.

So, what have I learned about myself? To relieve the stress, I just have to START.

Once I get a project started (typically, this is writing something -- and often it's a presentation) my mind begins to grasp how big the project will really be, and stress about it turns into planning it. It seems I can spend 30 minutes on a task that will take me several hours, and then my mind can relax. {I think it keeps working on the project in the background. Sometimes my mind does things without me asking it to. Ever have that experience?}

Then comes the hard part. With so many big projects to complete, I can't afford to spend too long on each one. Though I might sometimes tend toward perfectionism, I can't afford the time. I need to STOP and move on.

{And that's where I am now. I would prefer this entry to be a bit more clever. I'd love to find a cool graphic to add. But, as it turns out, I have some other tasks to complete. So, here I go.}

Start. Stop. Repeat.

I Know; You're Right.

I know a few people (or a dozen, or more) who have a habit that negatively affects how people interact with them. What is the habit?

They say "I know" too much. ^[1]

"Bill is coming over tonight." "I know."
"Watering plants in the sunroom needs to be done every other day." "I know."

The "I know" response focuses the attention on the person saying it. He can appear as if he is saying "You didn't need to tell me" or "You're wasting my time." It might even give a "know-it-all" impression.

Yet, I bet most of the time, it's just being said to confirm that the comment was heard, understood and agreed with.

In that case, may I humbly recommend that "I know" be replaced with "You're right."

Now the person receiving the response still understands that the listener heard, understood and agrees -- but also is giving credit to the initiator of the comment. It's affirming the statement and the person who made it.

Other phrases which are possible (though not as complimentary) are "OK," "Sure," "That's true," "I agree," "Gotcha," or a simple nod of the head.

The point is to get the focus off of the fact that the respondent already knows something, and onto the agreement - preferably while making the other person feel good about the conversation.

So there it is. My advice for the week. What do you think?


[You already knew it. I know.]




^[1]OK. I might resemble that remark.

Universal Values

I finished listening to my second of the Great Courses, Books That Have Made History: Books That Can Change Your Life. It was fascinating, and while I don't think I will set a goal to read each of the "great books" discussed in the lectures, I will certainly put some of them on my list, and I've definitely learned something already, even though I've only read a few of them at this point in my life.

The final lecture tied the course together, and one of Dr. Fears' primary points was to clarify for us the Universal Values that emerge from the "great books." A recurring theme in the course relates to our current societal obsession with relativism -- the idea that there are no absolutes, so set of core values, no beauty outside of preference, no right/wrong outside of the laws we invent. In our "modern" viewpoint, we act as if there is no common set of values, for (we reason) how can Christianity's values and Islam's values and Atheistic values live together (for example.)

Dr. Fears selected great books from a wide range of human thought, however, and in his opinion, there are some Universal Values that emerge. They are:

• Wisdom
• Justice
• Courage
• Moderation
  

From Socrates, through Confucius, the Hindu Bhagavad Gita, Marcus Aurelius, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, and up to Churchill and Gandhi, these four values are universally accepted as "good" and are prized among all human cultures. Even the books which advocate against them in certain situations (Machiavelli) regard them as a base.

My inital impression is agreement. I will think about this and perhaps have more to say in the future. But for now, it's hard to argue that it would be good advice to anyone that they should strive to be a person of wisdom, justice, courage and moderation.

Could you go wrong?

Gandhi Quotes

I have almost reached the end of my "Great Course" on great books, and I'm listening to the lecture on Gandhi's My Experiments with Truth. So, for my Friday blog entry, here are some very good thoughts from a very wise man.

As long as you derive inner help and comfort from anything, keep it.

Mahatma Gandhi

Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.

Mahatma Gandhi

- More quotations on: [Mistakes]

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.

Mahatma Gandhi

- More quotations on: [Happiness]

[Excerpted from the Gandhi page on Quotations.com]

Well, that explains a lot

I am listening to the final lecture in Einstein's Relativity and the Quantum Revolution: Modern Physics for Non-Scientists, {not at this very moment, but you get the point} and I'm impressed. Most of the lectures were quite possible to follow -- some easier than others, but all of them possible -- with my level of education. In fact, there were several points where Dr. Wolfson pointedly stayed away from the math that supports the physics (because the course is designed for non-scientists and hence non-mathematicians) and I wanted to stop him and say "No, please, show me the equations." But, fortunately, the accompanying booklet had some of them, along with his most important visual aids, so any questions I had were answered, at least one level deep, by looking at them.

So now I have a basic understanding of many of the topics in physics which have long intrigued me. I can't explain it all^[1], but I can explain some of it, and I can understand most of it.

The experience has confirmed a few things for me:
1) I really want to learn more about Dark Matter (there's a Great Courses course on that, too.)
2) I want to review this material until I can explain some of the concepts upon request because...
3) People who argue for a "young" Earth (or young universe") simply do not understand the weight of science they are denying.

One of the other two courses I own {so far} will soon be in my car's CD player. I think I will listen to "Books that Have Made History..." next, to give my scientific brain a chance to absorb this course while my artistic brain concentrates on the next. This has been a great use of my time.



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^[1]Honestly, is there anyone who doesn't like Melissa Joan Hart.

Everything's Amazing

Tracy had this on her Facebook page, so I just had to go find it on Youtube and share it here. (The guest is Louis CK. You can visit his website, if you want.)




I laugh and laugh -- because it's so true.

Vanity Fair did an article as a result of the spread of this Louis CK bit with Conan O'Brien. [It has the video, in case Youtube is forced to remove it again.]

As a culture, we're so impatient, and so unappreciative.

We saw "Slumdog Millionaire" last night. OK, so our country is in an economic downturn. Our 401K is smaller than we want? Get over ourselves! There are people living in cardboard boxes and eating from dumpsters! Appreciate life!

Advice Quotes

The "advice" quotations at www.quotationspage.com contain sarcastic items, melancholy items, and serious items. Here are the few that speak to me about advice, from the point of view of the giver of advice.

People who ask our advice almost never take it. Yet we should never refuse to give it, upon request, for it often helps us to see our own way more clearly.

Brendan Francis

In giving advice, seek to help, not please, your friend.
Solon - Greek lawgiver & politician in Athens (638 BC - 559 BC)

The true secret of giving advice is, after you have honestly given it, to be perfectly indifferent whether it is taken or not, and never persist in trying to set people right.

Hannah Whitall Smith, 1902

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All quotations today are from www.quotationspage.com.

Valentine's Day - In Moderation

I'm not quite willing to throw out Valentine's Day, as Roland Martin suggests, but I agree with the basic points he makes. 1) Husbands should show love to our wives (and vice versa) on a regular basis, and attentive spouses should not feel pressured to go overboard on Valentine's Day simply because our culture says we are "bad" if we don't up the ante on that day. 2) Showing affection and appreciation should not be a competition.

Unlike Roland, I like having a particular day of the year devoted to romance, even though it's primarily driven by retailers, because I think many people need a reminder to treat their spouse or significant other in a special way. In fact, I think many men need an excuse, given the peer pressure that exists in society to appear non-romantic -- until Valentine's Day, when everyone is supposed to be a combination of Romeo & Cassanova & Brad Pitt.

I think the key is moderation. We should not give in to the pressure to outdo others with the gifts we buy or events we plan. In fact, I've felt pressure to outdo myself, but I realize that type of escalation is self-imposed; Sherry doesn't judge me based on gifts or plans getting bigger, better and pricier each year.


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Photo from the Flickr photos of clarescupcakes. Don't they look yummy?

The Great Courses

Junk mail rarely affects me. (Junk mail? You know -- the stuff that's like e-mail spam, but it comes in your mailbox, delivered by the fine men and women of the Post Office. I know it's old fashioned, but it's still there.)

Sorry, I'm getting distracted by parentheticals.

Several weeks ago, we received a piece of junk mail that caught my attention. Included in the mailing was a catalog (nothing special there) and a CD (less common, for sure, but not unique.) The catalog was titled "The Great Courses" and the CD contained samples. Something about the material caused me to put it on the table in my den, rather than throw it away.

Some time later, as I was procrastinating doing financial chores on my computer, I opened the plastic and began to look through the catalog. Hmmm. "The Great Courses" are produced by The Teaching Company, and they are essentially college classes, delivered on audio or video. These courses are purportedly taught by highly regarded professors, and they cover a large variety of subjects. The audience for them consists of people who like learning things.

"Hey!" I thought, "that's me!"

So, I decided I'd try out their sample CD. It contained two lectures - one from a course on the greatest books ever written, and one on relativity and modern physics. I put the CD in the player in my car, initially intending to listen on my way to and from work each day. That intention didn't last long, however, because the lectures were so good I had to bring them with me from my car to a CD player and finish them.

I was impressed. And intrigued. The catalog has courses in history, art, science, math, philosophy -- wow!

As I've mentioned before, I have a certain Renaissance bent. I like learning about, and talking about, and thinking about, many different topics. One of my fondest memories in college is taking the Shakespeare course during my senior year. Why? Because I could, and I was interested. I had long since satisfied all of my requirements for my majors (Math & Computer Science) as well as my "general" requirements. I just wanted to learn about Shakespeare and his works.

Now here was The Teaching Company, offering to give me the chance to consume very similar material. What a great idea!

The catalog indicated that I needed to decide by mid-January in order to take advantage of huge deals on their courses, so I went to the website and browsed. It was so hard to choose, but ultimately, I selected the two courses from which the samples had been selected (Books That Have Made History... and Einstein's Relativity and the Quantum Revolution...) as well as a course on Science and Religion.

Each course comprises a series of 30-45 minute lectures, and I believe the shortest of the three I purchased has 12 lectures, and the longest has 36. I have been listening to the Relativity course first, and have completed 8 of the 24, and I am delighted.^[1] I have already grasped the basics of "relativity" and am intrigued to hear the explanations behind how this leads to time and space being inconstant. It's great. Each lecture teaches me something, and leaves me wanting more.

It will take me a while to get through these three courses. But when I do, I will definitely be looking for others. There is a course on Dark Matter that I would love to take -- especially since I started working on that science fiction story around dark matter. And maybe I can finally have a business or economics course intrigue me. Yes, I'll wait for a good price, but since some set of courses always seems to be on sale, I'm sure I can find something. These are an excellent use of my time -- I'm learning and enjoying every minute of it.


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^[1] By the time this entry is published, I may be even farther along than that - it's the result of writing entries ahead of time. (That has nothing to do with "relativity" by the way.)

Advice

Last night I told Leah:

"Don't act like you deserve it; act like you will earn it."

The generation we're raising is sometimes described as one that feels entitled. The characterization is that our children grew up with parents telling them:

You can do anything you want, if you put your mind to it.

and for some reason a good portion of the kids stopped listening (or parents stopped talking) when they reached the word "want."

It's my hope, of course, that my children heard and listened to the entire message.

Still, sometimes each one of us falls into the trap of thinking the world owes us something. It's easy to do, in this culture of plenty. The danger is that we'll be thinking this way when something really important is within our grasp, if only we'd work hard enough at the grasping.

I saw a quote recently. It's from Bobby Knight.

"The key is not the 'will to win' . . . everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important."
Bobby Knight

This was the point I was trying to get across to Leah. We need to know that our attitude matters, and that preparation and hard work are part of our attitude. If we act as if we deserve something, and then think we will get it without working for it, we have lost -- whether we get the "something" or not. Further, I believe that when people sense in us an attitude of entitlement, they are far less inclined to believe we deserve what we want.

If, instead, they see in our attitude that we will appreciate what we receive by committing to the hard work of nurturing it and protecting it, people are much more inclined to entrust us with it.

Go for it, Leah. Just do it with humility, enthusiasm and respect. You'll do just fine.