Over the next few days, I am not sure what kind of connectivity I am going to have, which puts my seven-plus-year posting streak at risk. I guess I could schedule a post, but it isn't really my style to do that, because it doesn't feel "fresh" to me. I am one of those people who writes and submits all in one motion for the most part, because that way, I am invested and connected at that moment.
I am hoping for calm seas.
I have tried to imagine what it would be like to miss a day, but it is a tossup as to whether I would be disappointed, or relieved. I think that initially I might be relieved, but the thing with having such a long streak is, it is very unlikely I would ever accomplish it again. If I tried, it would be daily posting until around 2033, before I would be able to extend it by another day. That is pretty crazy.
The problem with streaks - they always end.
(The winning ones at least)
The losing streaks could have no end. Would be good to have winning streaks in something that really mattered though. You know, just image having a genie in a bottle grant three wishes. In the movies people always seem to struggle with what they are going to choose, often wasting them - but is it so hard?
Healthy, wealthy, and wise.
Wouldn't having those three things be about as prepared as you can be for whatever lays ahead? Wealth is relative of course, but with health and wisdom, it wouldn't matter if it is moderate wealth or extreme wealth, there would be the energy and the brains to do well with it. It isn't totally about how much, but how it is utilised.
Size does matter though.
Starting from scratch is not a pleasant experience, especially if ill and stupid, like me. For years I struggled through and then finally as things were coming together, I had a stroke. A few more years of struggling and as things were coming together again, I lost my job. It seems to be cyclical for me, where just as things start to look up, I hit another downhill section. The climb takes years, the fall takes weeks.
I have a pretty wide circle of friends and over the years, I haven't really come across anyone that has this kind of cycle. Yeah, I know people who are worse off than me, but for a lot of them, it is pretty clear why they end up in that condition. I am all for consequence of action, but sometimes it seems that the severity of the consequences are not aligned with the behaviour. It is like using a hammer to fix a crack in a windscreen.
Sometimes I feel it would be easier to be able to believe in some higher power and have the "everything happens for a reason" approach, but my reason has voided that possibility and instead, everything happens due to some unknown randomness. I can make up a reason of course, which is pretty much the same as believing in a god (in my opinion), because it is a fantasy, unprovable, but also actionable. Believing in something, having hope, gives the direction to move in.
I am directionless.
I guess I can go to hell.
I won't qualify for heaven apparently.
Heaven is reserved for good believers, not good people.
It is quite presumptuous of me to say I am a good person.
There are worse.
It is a funny asymmetry isn't it? If someone says "my life sucks", people will say to remember that there are people worse off out there. However, if someone is a terrible person, no one says that it is okay because there are even worse people out there.
Selective morality.
I find the people who believe themselves to be the most moral, tend to be the ones who struggle with their own immorality. The people who tend to be the best people ethically, are the ones who don't have to be told what or how to be ethical, they just do it. They don't have a list of commandments or rules in front of them to obey, they just look at the world, use their senses, and make a judgement. Most children do it naturally also, until, they are conditioned to make judgements based on a predetermined set of rules.
Doing the right thing isn't hard.
Until social conformity comes into make its judgement. Then, doing the right thing often comes with group judgement and also group cost, as well as costs of those who benefit from the wrong things being done - and that cost is punishment. Punishment is a good way to influence behaviour, and social punishment acts at the core of our personality as social animals. We don't want to be punished, so we will often avoid doing the right thing. You might not believe it in yourself, but if you follow your behaviours and look at the times you remained silent to avoid some kind of discomfort, that is it. It might not be a big thing, but over time, who knows where you will end up.
History is filled with slippery slopes in society.
We are experiencing a big one now, and because it is so so engaging, so influential, and so convenient, we just keep sliding down in a race to the bottom of the bottomless abyss. I believe that most people don't change negative behaviours until they hit rock bottom, but what if there is not bottom to hit?
Well, that can be a topic to explore for another day.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
