If it sounds like fun, I'll call you back...
When I announced this blog to friends and family after writing and publishing the first three posts, I called it my stealth blog. I had two reasons for waiting that long to confess.
Although I've never lacked for opinions and have often been told that I analyze everything way too much, I wasn't certain I had enough topics to blog for any length of time. In only a day or two I compiled a long list of topics--more than one index card--more than enough.
More important, I wasn't certain how long I would have fun writing these posts. I wasn't willing to commit to doing anything long-term if I wasn't having fun. Life is too short.
I've always had a sense of urgency. I was one of those teens who suffered dramatic angst over the shortness of life and the impossibility of cramming all the adventures I could imagine into only one life. Today I'm even more acutely aware of running out of time than I was as a teen. I calculate that I probably have at least another twenty years. But twenty years doesn't sound like much anymore. I no longer crave all the many adventures I craved as a teen, but even with reduced goals, I want to make the most of however much time I have left. From this point forward, fun is my highest purpose in life.
Of course no life is exclusively fun. There is not a single person on earth whose life does not include challenges. Some challenges are fun. Some challenges can be turned into fun--a transformation that makes you triumphant whether you overcome the challenge or not. But some challenges are highly unlikely to convert to fun for anyone.
The current economy is a good example. I won't comment in detail about the current economy in this posting. I will have comments about the current economy in many more postings over coming months because the economy is fascinating and it's long-term impact on society and on the psychology of individuals is even more fascinating. Now, suffice it to say that I don't know anyone who is above the pain of the current economy. Even people who have kept their own heads above water have people they care about whose lives resemble the debris from a major accident. Houses are foreclosed in wealthy suburbs as well as in low-income city neighborhoods. Even the rich have children who can't get jobs or parents whose savings have been wiped out. Almost everyone seems anxious and cautious about spending. The economy is a genuine source of agony for almost everyone, even for those of us who find it interesting.
The economy is a painful challenge that has to be accepted and toughed out. Denial is not an effective way to deal with this kind of challenge. Run from challenge and the challenge will chase you.
I do have New Age friends who have always disagreed with me on the above. College friends who migrated west and evolved into self-proclaimed Gurus-From-The-Coast (GFTC) assure me that everything in life is a figment of the imagination. Years ago, one GFTC told me that Chicago had polluted air because the people who lived in Chicago had agreed to imagine the city with polluted air. According to this theory, group thoughts created smog--not fume-belching buses and fuel-burning cars. This GFTC insisted that the people of the city needed simply to agree to picture the city with clean air and the air would be clean.
I have more faith in catalytic converters.
And I've noticed over the years that the GFTCs' blithe theories apply to the challenges others face and not their own. Their painful challenges remain surprisingly real to them. Mine, not so much.
However, despite my insistence on facing unpleasant realities, I'm still planning to invest the majority of my remaining time and energy on this planet to the pursuit of fun.
The message on my Voice Mail says, "At the beep, leave your name, phone number and reason for calling. If it sounds like fun, I'll call you back."
Although I've never lacked for opinions and have often been told that I analyze everything way too much, I wasn't certain I had enough topics to blog for any length of time. In only a day or two I compiled a long list of topics--more than one index card--more than enough.
More important, I wasn't certain how long I would have fun writing these posts. I wasn't willing to commit to doing anything long-term if I wasn't having fun. Life is too short.
I've always had a sense of urgency. I was one of those teens who suffered dramatic angst over the shortness of life and the impossibility of cramming all the adventures I could imagine into only one life. Today I'm even more acutely aware of running out of time than I was as a teen. I calculate that I probably have at least another twenty years. But twenty years doesn't sound like much anymore. I no longer crave all the many adventures I craved as a teen, but even with reduced goals, I want to make the most of however much time I have left. From this point forward, fun is my highest purpose in life.
Of course no life is exclusively fun. There is not a single person on earth whose life does not include challenges. Some challenges are fun. Some challenges can be turned into fun--a transformation that makes you triumphant whether you overcome the challenge or not. But some challenges are highly unlikely to convert to fun for anyone.
The current economy is a good example. I won't comment in detail about the current economy in this posting. I will have comments about the current economy in many more postings over coming months because the economy is fascinating and it's long-term impact on society and on the psychology of individuals is even more fascinating. Now, suffice it to say that I don't know anyone who is above the pain of the current economy. Even people who have kept their own heads above water have people they care about whose lives resemble the debris from a major accident. Houses are foreclosed in wealthy suburbs as well as in low-income city neighborhoods. Even the rich have children who can't get jobs or parents whose savings have been wiped out. Almost everyone seems anxious and cautious about spending. The economy is a genuine source of agony for almost everyone, even for those of us who find it interesting.
The economy is a painful challenge that has to be accepted and toughed out. Denial is not an effective way to deal with this kind of challenge. Run from challenge and the challenge will chase you.
I do have New Age friends who have always disagreed with me on the above. College friends who migrated west and evolved into self-proclaimed Gurus-From-The-Coast (GFTC) assure me that everything in life is a figment of the imagination. Years ago, one GFTC told me that Chicago had polluted air because the people who lived in Chicago had agreed to imagine the city with polluted air. According to this theory, group thoughts created smog--not fume-belching buses and fuel-burning cars. This GFTC insisted that the people of the city needed simply to agree to picture the city with clean air and the air would be clean.
I have more faith in catalytic converters.
And I've noticed over the years that the GFTCs' blithe theories apply to the challenges others face and not their own. Their painful challenges remain surprisingly real to them. Mine, not so much.
However, despite my insistence on facing unpleasant realities, I'm still planning to invest the majority of my remaining time and energy on this planet to the pursuit of fun.
The message on my Voice Mail says, "At the beep, leave your name, phone number and reason for calling. If it sounds like fun, I'll call you back."
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