my life

Diana,

Wow, I never thought about it that way, but that’s sure what it feels like now that you mention it.

I probably shouldn’t be writing this so late when I’m tired, but two thoughts come to mind:

1) How to train an elephant. When he’s young, tie a rope around his leg and tether him to a tree. He’ll fight and pull at the rope, but he can’t break it. He’ll eventually figure that out and quit trying. Now, even when he’s fully grown and able to break the rope easily, he’ll still think he can’t and won’t even try.

2) “Now watch what you say or they’ll be calling you a radical, liberal, fanatical, criminal.
Won’t you sign up your name, we’d like to feel you’re acceptable, respectable, presentable, a vegetable!” Supertramp, “The Logical Song”

Now that I’ve depessed us both, good night.

Dave

Ahhhh–"maturity"? At what point does that arrive? I guess I have a long way to go. Just got all upset because I don’t have time in the day (or possibly time left) to do all the things I want to do. Learn Greek. Syndicate a column. Write a book. Sell philosophical stuff to magazines. Produce a monthly paper on religion called “A Word with You", in which I define and explain biblical words. Build a cat house. Build a house. Learn to ice skate. The list could go on and on and on. I guess I’m not mature enough yet. Love you. Daddy

There’s no guarantee you’ll ever have time to do everything you want to, of course. My intended point is that you do what you must without balking, simply because it must be done and you know and accept that.

Why do you want to build a cathouse? :)

Stopitthisinstant being depressed, Dave. I’ve found many perks to the new me. I like me this way, actually. It takes less energy to do a better job, because I’m not wasting any being upset that I did A but the boss wants B now or maybe A was pointless to begin with and I knew it and thus balked at having to do what amounted to “busy work.”

I guess I’m just more accepting all the way around, and it’s quite peaceful.

d

Diana,

Uh, yes ma’am.

I don’t mind gaining this alleged maturity so much as I miss the ignorant optimism of my youth. I guess there’s a place for both in the world.

Changes. That’s what life is about, and we might as well get used to it.

Dave

I think Dave said it well. It deals with the ignorance of youth. James Joyce comes to mind. It is just that many things are so much easier now (with maturity) that life doesn’t seem such a battle. We are passing easily through confrontations now because we are wiser, not so much because we have been conditioned. The ability to make money is a good example. With wisdom comes the ability to be a rebel and the people around you don’t recognize it. Have you heard the story about the old bull and the young bull on top of the hill? Maturity does not eleviate satisfaction.

Later,
Rog

Having been raised on the back of a horse myself, I can fully appreciate this analogy. However, what comes to mind after reading the entire post is a bumper sticker I saw recently.

“Well behaved women rarely make history.”

I guess what I’ve learned is that it’s all about picking your battles. It’s probably best not to balk at the little things, and save your energy to fight the good fight.

Thanks, Andi. Another saying along those lines is that people who toe the line never change history–it’s the ones who break the rules and do things their own ways that history remembers fondly, or at least with compassion. Billy Mitchell and John Brown spring to my mind.

Not that I expect to fall into that category. :) But still…when I’m not fitting in (which is usually), it makes me content to remember that.

d