To Some Degree

People are not good or bad, not black or white, but shades of grey and hues of colors. We are all different, and we don't all think alike, but there's more to it than that. It seems to me that we all may have some amount of mental illness, i.e., we're all a little crazy. Specifically, it seems to me that the recipee for a good engineer scientist is equal parts smarts, anti-social, Asperger's, OCD and ADD/hyperactivity... or otherwise they wouldn't be good engineers.

Every good male engineer or scientist I've known had some degree of emotional issue and came unequipped to cope. The nerdy, geeky engineer's only saving grace was that he made a good living. Unfortunately, that drew the wrong girls. The engineer then got distracted by relationship and subsequent marriage and lost his edge, therefore losing his career, his marriage, his assets and his mind. The girl that understood did quite well, considering marriage a profitable business arrangement with a long time-constant. The engineer was not interested and didn't understand the expectation, time sequence nor duration and repeated the process a few times in his lifetime, bumping into love, when he should have instead understood what he is... good technically but incapable of social interaction nor romantic love. Read Einstein's life (or the many others). And, yes, me too.

The young engineer that understands early on, and does not succumb, has an tremendous, fulfilling career of significant contribution and great mental health. The engineer that understands in mid-life does contribute, to some limited extent, and finds calmness in life with the help and brotherly love of friends. The ones that never get it just waste their lives.

It would be like a tall thin kid trying to wrestle, or a powerlifter trying track. It just don't work. Gotta use your given talents.

- © 2010 by Willy

It's All About What We Want

Yes, it's our choice, it's our mindset, and it's our attitude.

My front yard has a brick flowerbed with a variety of planted flowers. Out my front door I see gorgeous sunsets every evening. The back yard always has wildflowers blooming, beautiful fall leaf colors and year-round wild animals and birds. I feed, plant and enjoy it. I find it comfortable, soothing and entertaining... and good for my mental health. But I confess that I will see a beautiful view even if I was looking at a brick wall. Just because I want to.

I also stay very busy at work, where I think of myself contributing and indispensable, with daily battles between right and wrong. In a visible setting, in spite of reprimands, I help good people... anonymously when I can... and stay away from the bad. Because I can and want to.

I don't have tinnitus, arthritis/joint/back pain and my feet don't hurt. Instead, I listen to people and do activities to the max. This in turn allows me to further enjoy sun and trees, sweat and wind... life. Because I want to.

I invite my Higher Power in, and my conscience is always talking to me. Decision are thought out in consensus. So it is all about what I want out of life. I've discussed this with my monk friends: it's all about evoking self-discipline, now; about continuously controlling thoughts and attitudes; and about discipline of the eyes. After some mistakes in life, I want to.

It's about watching your form while you lift. It's work, but otherwise you tear yourself up.

And it's about living the dream.


- © by Willy

Possible Solutions To Any Problem

One solution is to embrace uncertainty rather than fight it.
Acceptance is a solution.
Reaching out with kindness.
Making a difference.
Accomplishing something.
Practicing how you play, and play how you practice.
Remembering that everything matters.
Injecting less libido and testosterone into the equation.
Do not reduce the other to a conquered opponent.
When all is said and done, the simple things in life
      will beat the complicated every time.
Do the right thing, no matter the repercussions.
In every relationship, it helps to be a little deaf.
      - Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg.
Do not stand in the way of a person's dream.
We can't choose how we feel but we can choose what we DO about it.
It's better to wear out than to rust out.
Do not confuse love with sex, or sex with love.
Be careful with the type of love you give and accept.
Look deep: character cannot be strengthened by makeup.
Fight the good fight, and finish the race.

- © 2010 by Willy but many anons except for Ginsburg's

Outdated or Wiser?

The same things are true in life as in fitness and in faith.

Fall color is here and leaves are carpeting our trails. Fall comes and fall will go, just as sure as the sun will return tomorrow morning. But we learn more each year. This year I discovered ruins just beside my favorite hiking trail.

I am a 60-year-old engineer and am outdated in many things, but not The Big Picture. Yes, kids know eye-opening computer tricks and give me six significant digits of accuracy but oftentimes they get the first digit wrong... that is, they went the wrong way. Can't argue about results based on experience. We know that kids come and kids get old and go, and we all learn from each other.

The AIG/bank/wallstreet/auto bailout came a couple of decades after the Savings and Loan debacle. The economy is a shambles and we don't have the power to fix it, so we wring our hands until we remember that this, too, shall pass. It happened before and it will happen again. I have faith that as liberals come then liberals too will go. The tide comes in and the tide goes out. It ebbs and flows. Are the politicians protecting worthless bank assets incompetent or just crooks? Yes, and then they go, and we relearn not to trust them, or the banks.

We will discover the motivation to embark upon a good fitness plan... then receive an overuse injury or accident, and we stop to heal, and start all over again. Only this time we will risk less to overuse and pick where we ride.

We're living the good life and divorce happens and life gets sour. And life ebbs and flows again later. We get mad at God and then, in His time, we go back, wiser, and learn not to enter another relationship like that.

In my business, the cannon is as outdated as the slide rule, and so is the canon... all of the canons... because the truth is that nothing stays the same.

Life ebbs and flows, and there's much comfort and tranquility in knowing that, and accepting it.


- © 2010 by Willy