Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Tuesday Oct. 4, 2005 - Year 3, Day 197 - happy holidays
-2C/28F cloudy, damp & breezy; I walked briskly as far as my sore left foot allowed, then hobbled back – Gusta seems to understand going slow for me, that is until some new smell causes her to lunge off madly in all directions
our Jewish friends & musers celebrate Rosh Hashanah [Jewish New Year] today – a day which begins the ‘high holidays’, ending in 10 days with Yom Kippur . . . to you all, Good Yontif
depending on the context, everything can be scary; getting up in front of a crowd to speak at a contest [me tonight], a car dealer with a lot full of SUV’s or residents of a city that doesn’t exist anymore . . . from trivial to troubling to disastrous . . . we each face hundreds of risks every day – but most of them don’t bother us
in our lives individually – or on a broader societal basis, I think each time new scares, new risks, new challenges appears on my horizon, we stress fret & worry – often with very good reason – like teaching a child to safely cross a street, competing on a playing field or in a board room . . or white-knuckle visits to get ‘test results’ . . each brings its special brand of fright the first time . . or every time !
but then, just like an inoculation that gives us a tiny dose of the disease to help our bodies build strength against it, tastes of trouble seems to insulate us for the future from that kind of trouble
whether hurricane flood damage, aggressor nations, dread disease, wolf at the door, or making amends to someone – each of these things is scary until we confront them – then it seems a little less difficult, the scare is not so great, the reality less scary than the perception we held
or . . .
maybe . . . we are stronger than we thought both individually & collectively; maybe we are more courageous, capable & daring than we care to credit ourselves being
maybe we are
Mark
our Jewish friends & musers celebrate Rosh Hashanah [Jewish New Year] today – a day which begins the ‘high holidays’, ending in 10 days with Yom Kippur . . . to you all, Good Yontif
depending on the context, everything can be scary; getting up in front of a crowd to speak at a contest [me tonight], a car dealer with a lot full of SUV’s or residents of a city that doesn’t exist anymore . . . from trivial to troubling to disastrous . . . we each face hundreds of risks every day – but most of them don’t bother us
in our lives individually – or on a broader societal basis, I think each time new scares, new risks, new challenges appears on my horizon, we stress fret & worry – often with very good reason – like teaching a child to safely cross a street, competing on a playing field or in a board room . . or white-knuckle visits to get ‘test results’ . . each brings its special brand of fright the first time . . or every time !
but then, just like an inoculation that gives us a tiny dose of the disease to help our bodies build strength against it, tastes of trouble seems to insulate us for the future from that kind of trouble
whether hurricane flood damage, aggressor nations, dread disease, wolf at the door, or making amends to someone – each of these things is scary until we confront them – then it seems a little less difficult, the scare is not so great, the reality less scary than the perception we held
or . . .
maybe . . . we are stronger than we thought both individually & collectively; maybe we are more courageous, capable & daring than we care to credit ourselves being
maybe we are
Mark
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