Ah, !@$# it!

I’m quite a fan of ufyh (warning: language NSFW), but less for the 20-10’s or the concerted effort to fix bits and pieces. I definitely see the utility of those and do something along those lines occasionally (those baking soda and vinegar volcanoes really work), but really I think it’s as much about a state of mind that says, “^@#% it! This thing isn’t as big a deal as my stupid brain is making it. Do it now!”

Cases in point:

  1. I’ve had a chip in my windshield (windscreen?) for month or so now. Every time I see it, it niggles me. I really need to do something about that. In a very stupid way, it was chipping away at my self-esteem every time I saw it. It was my car telling me that I’m too incompetent, too lazy to get around to fixing a stupid chip in a stupid screen, which could be a REALLY BIG DEAL if and when the windshield broke because I hadn’t got it fixed. It’s nuts. Brain’s are stupid that way. Today, I finally got to that point, and in a five minute phone call arranged for my insurance to get it fixed for free tomorrow in my driveway!
  2. Daughter #2 never puts her laundry away. She’s allergic to it, I think. As a last resort, I put her on a timer last week. It took her 3 minutes…well, 6 minutes to get it into her room and in the drawers. 6 stupid minutes. Staring at that %@#%ing pile of laundry had been eating away at me for weeks.
  3. I had a caulking gun sitting in my bathroom for a month or two. I needed to fix the caulk around the bathtub. Two bloody months reminding me of what I hadn’t done. When I finally was willing to say “@%#$ it! Let’s do it now!” it took me less than five minutes to lay a bead where it needed to go. You may well (and correctly) claim that I probably did a half-ass job, but it’s done, which is a heck of a lot better than “not done and mocking me.”

The thing is that this kind of thing happens all the damn time, but a slight shift in perspective can really help move things along. There’s a really annoying story about starfish stranded on a sea-shore. You know the one. I don’t think in those terms, but doing something, anything, begins to move things in the right direction. I pick up a couple of dust-bunnies from the floor. It’s nothing, but you know, there are now two fewer dust-bunnies. I put away the dishes. It’s nothing. It takes two, maybe three minutes, and makes hardly a lick of difference, but now I can actually do the dirty dishes and fill the dishwasher. These things seem like they count for nothing, but they actually move things forward, even if it’s only an inch at a time. It’s still an inch in the right direction and pretty soon you realize that you’ve cleared space both mentally and physically.

I’m not so damn special that it has to be right, and I have to look perfect. I should forgive myself and be willing to get it wrong, to screw up, to apologize, to fix, to move forward. The thing done is better than the thing not done. The email sent. The phone call made.

I’m not going to do the exact exercise that I should, but any exercise is better than no exercise. I’m not going to eat in the healthiest way possible, but I’ll add something to the mix, and that’s better than not.

So anyway, this post is a reminder to myself that sometimes you have to be willing to ignore that over-analytical brain and say “@#%& it! Do it now!”

Oh…and make your bed!

When exactly will the “War on Terror” be over?

When exactly will the War on Terror be over? You do wonder. It’s not really a question anyone ever asks. When will it be over and when it is, will our privacy and liberty be restored? Like the War on Drugs or the War on Poverty, it will never be over until it stops being a war at all. One way to “win” is to refuse to fight the same battle as your opponent. Win on your own terms, not theirs.

Not holding my breath on that. What a mess.

A five-year plan

Still working on those unfinished drafts… 😉

Do you have a five-year plan?

I don’t.

Should I?

Occasionally, I run across that advice in one of those columns that tells you how to fix your life. It’s attractive. Hey, I’m a person with a plan who is going places…

Well, I think I’m a guy who knows where my towel is (unless my daughter has left them on the floor of her room again), but I’ve not really approached my life that way. Having a family tends to throw a monkey wrench in one’s good intentions. Maybe one day I’ll work out how to be a super dad who makes crafts with his awesome kids while hang-gliding, or maybe the trick is to save that for grandchildren.

Isn’t living in the moment meant to be a good thing anyway? I suppose it is, unless one isn’t living, unless one isn’t anaethetized by modern media, distracted by cat pictures. Hmm…that reminds me, I’m not sure I’ve seen a text from the Dalai Lama recently? Best check my twitter feed….

Yunomae Town, Kumamoto, Japan

Last one…….I’m never going to finish these… and that was five years ago!


 

When I was 22 I lived in Yunomae, Japan for two years. It was a both a wonderful time and a very difficult time. I find it hard to think about because I have real regrets about the experience. If ever there was a case of being older and wiser, and thinking that youth is wasted on the young, this pretty much fits the bill.

I lived in a beautiful location, had free time, and was hosted by incredibly generous and wonderful people. At the same time, the work was unfulfilling, and the culture shock eventually became a very real thing.

When I think about it, I’m very sad to have lost touch with the lovely people I met and who were so kind to me.