When Folly Becomes "Wisdom"

Some of the clichés with which we try to motivate others (and ourselves) are downright lame. If “failure is not an option,” then neither is success. An option is selectable. If failure is not an option, you cannot select it. You then default to success, so success is no longer an option either.

There are other moronic platitudes. How about “Only the good die young”? Is that because people only get to be such SOBs in their old age? It takes time to develop evil? And then there’s “Good things come to those who wait.” …..so why not procrastinate? The fact is that sometimes if you don’t act now, you’ll react later.  There! I just composed a new one.

And there’s this piece of wisdom: “It is what it is.”  No kidding!  Or how about “Follow your bliss”?  Maybe mine is heroin. Maybe we should lead our bliss.  And here’s one that fosters failure: “Go with the flow.” No need to lead. No reason why you should make a positive difference. Just be a dead fish and go with the flow.
Especially "if failure is not an option."

Things not going well? Then “just think about how much worse other people have it.” Yeah. It should cheer you up to dwell on other people’s misery.

Forced to Share

My apologies for the delay in posting new blog material. It’s been a busy week. I had something happen that I had not experienced before. I was in the waiting area at my departure gate in an airport terminal and I noticed two really big guys waiting. They were not together. One was super big.  I mean like Haystacks Calhoun. You younger readers can google that name. He was a super-heavyweight wrestler from my boyhood. The second guy wasn’t so big…maybe only 500 pounds. Sort of like King Kong Bundy. The flight was a Westjet commuter flight…a Bombardier Q400. Two seats on either side of the aisle, including the “Plus” section, indistinguishable from the minus section except for the mini slip covers over the top of the seat.  I don’t know that I have ever been on a Bombardier plane that had comfortable seating. Maybe, but I doubt it. 

I wondered how it was going to work out for the passenger adjacent to each of these guys.  I was soon to find out.  It turned out that King Kong had the window seat next to my aisle one.  Well, not quite accurate. He had the window seat and more. I won’t go into the difficulties of trying to avoid getting a ribhead twisted in that situation. I am not complaining; just explaining. I am glad for the experience. It enlarged my understanding. And No, that wasn’t a pun.

Staying Sane in the Employment Market

One of the current big issues with employment is the exporting of jobs. So many types of work can be done remotely: software engineering, accounting, law research, mechanical engineering and much else.  This has the effect of creating a downward pressure on domestic wages and fees because workers are competing with foreign pricing.  Many employers farm out work on a task by task basis. Most of the new jobs created in Canada last year were part-time as I recall, and that is often suggestive of temporary work.  My assessment is that there is a great deal of job insecurity, and a lot of people, mainly millennials, are stressed about whether they will have work. It’s a transitional phase of the economy I think.

Next step is guaranteed income for everyone as artificial intelligence takes over much of the workload and many humans live in leisure. I expect that this will lead to huge individual stresses. We all have a deep and wide security need.  It is satisfied by knowing we are needed and valued. Sometimes we attain that through relationships, but often through our work. People that have no work will tend to feel useless --- marginalized.  And they will feel insecure. They will need to have strong and close relationships, but many won’t have those. To me, it seems like a time of great psychological and social stress coming.

Quality is Better? Really?

I don’t think quality always beats quantity.  Which would be a more satisfying meal --- an ounce of beef tenderloin and two asparagus stalks in your favorite sauce, or 10 ounces of hamburger and a cup of peas?

I have heard parents talk about how the important thing is to spend “quality time” with their kids.  They never have explained to me what quality time is, but having raised 3 kids, this much I know: you can’t just make quality time happen….you can’t predict its time.  The way quality time occurs is to give it a chance to happen, and the more time you spend with your kids, the greater the opportunity for good and powerful memories to be formed.

Sometimes quality is a waste. There are times when good enough is better than best.