Bits & Pieces

Answer to Depression: Purpose is the answer. Finding your purpose. Some find it in reading subjects of interest, not entertainment, but interest. Not just hobbies. Art maybe, creating it and expressing the inner self to the universe! Better yet, find people or a cause that is totally outside of yourself and dedicate your interest and efforts toward that. In a short time, your focus will be outside of yourself. The depression will be forgotten. Purpose has replaced it and with it a long life of achievement. And happiness.

Long-Term Objectives: America is a society of short-term thinking. We follow the new and buy it. Inventory of gadgets move quickly. The latest model of a car grabs our attention. But thinking two years out from these consumer decisions is often not on our radar. It should be.

Does the product add to the strain and pollution of the power grid? Does the product rob the earth of precious metals that can never be replaced? Are we planning space use so we can downsize more easily when the time comes? That time always comes. It is the nature of life.

Do corporations have firm visions of their long-term futures? Ten or fifteen years from now? Or only 90 days. Year-end objectives? Come on! What we do today has an impact on conditions 15 years from now. Plan for that. Do we want to live in a peaceful world? How do we obtain that? What do we have to do, which policies need to be researched and created to make that happen? Do we want to eliminate poverty? How about reducing gun violence? Crime?

These are not 90-day goals. They are long-term. The seeds of a better future of any kind begins with planting seeds of change today. But the expectations must be long-term to give our efforts a chance to succeed.

Why is this so difficult to understand? And so elusive of government units, especially Congress?

Challenging the Self: Do you wonder about the news you don’t understand? What about human-interest stories that you don’t quite connect with? Do you just turn away and move on to something else? Or do you ponder why you don’t understand the topic or get the point of the human-interest story?

In my own life I have never understood the fascination with pop music with lyrics I don’t understand. To me it is all mumble jumble. I know I am not alone with this. I turn to a contemporary while exposed to such music and ask them what it is all about. They don’t know either. I know the lyrics are in English, but the articulation is a mystery of sounds and grunts.

Do I switch to music I like and know? Or do I spend some time trying to understand what is a mystery to me? Most of the time I ignore this music and move on to something else. When I’m with my adult kids, I ask them what the music is about. They usually tell me. Then I can listen for those messages. Still, they cannot answer all my questions about this. That’s because they are aging too! So, if available, I ask my granddaughters.

The same ‘research’ is needed with news reports or human-interest stories. If I don’t understand them, I search the internet for more background. I am retired and have the time to do this. Then I write about such things in my blog or talk about them with my clients when appropriate. This is how I keep up with the news and know when newscasts are not revealing the whole story. They can’t because they don’t have the time to go into detail. Seems to me they should either question the story or ask the public to dig deeper.

Challenging ourselves to understand the new or complicated is one way to stay current.

February 16, 2022

 

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