Totally Awesome
My friend
Jenny sent me this poster :)
It's a trying day. Ethel's out running around Fountain Hills, trying to find me a house.
She's got Silas with her - he's grounded (a grade thing) and so he can't be out running
around Anthem on his own (it's a school holiday. I have no idea what day it is supposed
to be - kids these days seem to get out of school for holidays like "Happy Tuesday!" :)
Anyway, she's running around trying to find a house that we can afford* that will reduce
my commute*. And I'm sitting here wanting her to look at THIS one or THAT one, and instead
she's looking at the other one, or the same one again.
Ever watch a football game on TV, and then - when your team attempts a field goal - you
found yourself clenching your gut and your teeth, trying to *force* the ball to go between
the uprights? That's what "the illusion of control" feels like - that sense that somehow
I'll be able to force a solution to a problem by sitting in my chair, straining hard :)
Oh, well. Time to give that one up. Easy Does It. First Things First. Live And Let Live.
Those are three AA slogans that you see on the walls of meeting houses all over the country.
They are a little different from "motivational posters" (like the one being parodied above)
because, rather than trying to give an inspirational message, they give direct instructions
on how to go about changing one's attitude - to take particular actions or approaches. Easy
Does It. When I'm feeling like I've got to do something, and I've got to try hard, it helps
to remember that THAT HAS NEVER WORKED BEFORE. But those things that I sort of flow into, I
then flow through, and then I flow out of them. Easy Does It.
First Things First. Doctor Bob said that, for people like us, "first things first" translates
to "seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you." Go to
meetings. Work the Steps. Help others. Go about His business, and He'll take care of our business.
Live And Let Live. What other folks are doing doesn't have any effect on me, other than as
an example of what I might want to do (or not do) - but certainly it's none of my business
to stop them from doing what they are doing, or make them do something else.
Of course, even if I get all of these ideas down pat - my life will never be as awesome as
that picture :)
(
*afford -
that word doesn't have the same meaning as it used to have. It used to mean "doesn't
scare me to the point of sphincter release". Now it means "causes sphincter release, but I won't
need defib."
*reduce my commute -
originally, I intended to wind up with a commute shorter than
the distance I can hit a golf ball with a 9-iron. However, I've had to alter my expectations -
for one thing, I can't hit a 9-iron nearly as far as I could when I was a young studling. The
other expectation-reducer has to do with the simple fact that this is Scott$dale - the closer
a house is to this office, the more exorbitant the price. So I'm down to hoping that I can get
a commute that is consistently less than a half hour.
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