BUGS

"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious."

~ Albert Einstein ~

So the question is, why are bugs attracted to lights at night, when, if they get too close, the light will likely kill them. 

Science says some insects navigate by light, so they are following what they believe to be the right path forward, 

and others are attracted to the heat in order to stay warm on a chilly night. 

Neither answer seems completely satisfactory somehow. 

     Maybe bugs, like humans rubber necking at a highway accident, just can't help themselves, 

and have to know what's going on over there. 

We don't always have to know why. 

TECHNICAL SUPPORT

"Technology brings you great gifts with one hand and stabs you in the back with the other."

~ CP Snow ~

We are forced by circumstance to become largely self-sufficient when it comes to tech support. It's almost a given that an inquiry phone call will ultimately drive us back online. Many companies these days unabashedly announce that no humans are reachable except by email... and we may feel frustrated, but we manage. We watch a YouTube video or search google a new way, and something is lost and something is gained and a little tidal pool is formed where technical and human needs align and crash.

Live human interaction has unmatched technical benefits.

CLOSE TO CENTER

"Happiness is a place between too little and too much."

~ Finnish Proverb ~

Life seeks balance, 

so when things swing off wildly in one lopsided direction, 

we can be sure at some point they will be swinging back around. 

And the goal, 

perhaps, 

is to live as close to center as possible 

so as to avoid 

the jolting 

back and forth.

Balance and stability live between the extremes.

SEEING THE GOOD

"You can't please everyone."

~ American Proverb ~

I stop trying to convince those who don't see it of my worth. 

There are plenty who do see it, and I make it a priority to hang out with them.

I focus on what's working.

LEVELING UP AND DOWN

"Be moderate in order to taste the joys of life in abundance."

~ Epicurus ~

I have observed two possible responses to telling someone they are amazing and doing a great job. The first is that they heighten their integrity an additional notch, walk a little taller, and become scrupulous about continuing to earn the acknowledgement.
     And the other, sadly, is to slip a little and become less scrupulous figuring now they have won us over that they can do no wrong.

I avoid enthusiasm backlash by keeping my compliments right-sized. 

THE BRIGHT YOUNG PERSPECTIVE

"Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man."

~ Rabindranath Tagore ~

I had the privilege of eating breakfast with a six year old recently. She was wearing a hat with sparkly flowers and pink cowboy boots. I asked her what her favorite food was and she said, "Raspberries!" When I asked her why she said "Because I can put them on my fingers and eat them from there!"

Children remind me of the joy of living.

MIDNIGHT MIND WARP

"It's the worry that gets you, not the lack of sleep."

~ Dale Carnegie ~

We create problems in our minds in the middle of the night and feel a kind of panicky urgency to solve them right then and there. But it's all just mind activity. There is no actual problem in the moment.
     We can relax, breathe deeply, and go back to sleep. As challenges arise in the daylight, we will intuitively know what to do.

I keep my "problems" in perspective and realize that many of them are of my own making.