There is so much bull exhaust in the world, and yet I remain bullish on life.
When I got on the elevator the other day, there were two older guys in the car, one with a walking cast on his foot, the other helping himself with a walking stick. They made some remark about their challenges, and my response was, isn't it wonderful that we are up and moving about under our own power. I love a good simple walk. I try to walk an hour each day. If I needed wheels to move about, I would roll an hour a day. Get out and move. If you don't the vultures will start to circle.
In the movie, "The Longest Day" there is a scene where a group of Nuns walk through artillery fire to attend to the wounded, because they are trained nurses and that is what they do. Get out an walk boldly like those Nuns.
There is so much beauty in the world. Stop and see it. Look around, art, nature, architure, and design are all around us. There is so much to take in. As I write this I turn to look out my window, and the trees are turning into the late summer early autumn yellow tinged green. More of an olive green, than the suffocating deep greens of summer and the almost fluorescent greens of spring. In a few months, the branches will show the underlying strength of the trees. There is beauty in all of this, I try to keep my eyes and mind open to take it all in.
The library is filled with books I have not read. I could indulge in a different book each day for the rest of my life, and never exhaust the supply. Each one of them, even the ones I would set aside after a couple of pages, bring something to my life. (Sometimes we need to sample what we don't like, to help us understand what we do like.)
The world is filled with wonderful people. Now I know some people are despicable, best avoided, while karma catches up with them. But there are so many polite, kind, interesting, fun, or funny people. I talk to strangers. I gain something from each interaction. (I also check the BBC homepage each morning looking for the Big Beautiful Obituary - in all of this post, I know this one sentence will draw the most comments.)
A long time friend of mine has recently had cochlear implant surgery, restoring hearing lost to a decade as an artillery commander. He said it is so wonderful to be able to follow a conversation again, to hear the leaves rustle in the wind, the birds chirping. To hear life again. I am so happy for him.
It is a bit of a struggle to avoid the bullshit and focus on the joys and wonders of life, but I need to do this, or surrender my dignity.
I remember a conversation with someone who was being hounded by debt collectors. She felt hopeless, to point of thinking about suicide. I assessed the situation and gave her both a legal and a human advice. She had nothing that the debt collectors could take, in legal terms she was collection proof. She could hang up and refuse to answer the calls of the debt collectors and there was nothing they could do to her. Then I gave her a little human advice, "all the debt collectors can take from you is your dignity, and you don't have to let them do that."
In challenging times, don't let the bullshit take your dignity. There are intentional efforts to make us angry, knowing that it steals our dignity and peace of mind. We don't have to listen.
I saw this the other day, the bourbon industry is taking a beating. And Canada makes some rather good stuff. They are not letting BS get in the way of good booze.
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| A tasty souvenir from Toronto. |
