Time Out

I'm getting a little personal here tonight. Sometimes I just need to say "Wooooah there!" Let's slow the hell down. Ever find that life becomes a mirage of meaningless details and you lose sight of what's really important?

I find that when I'm driving on U.S. 41 and am overly agitated at the old guy who's had his left turn signal on for a million years and finally swings right...it's usually my sign that it's time to take stock of reality.

Today, a creeping Outlook program at work literally seemed like it would cause the world to end. Someone's flat reply to an enthusiastic "how are you?" was seriously annoying. At home, a knock on the door that triggered the dog into a spiraling barking routine was sooo agitating. And reviewing the same homework assignment 3 times was maddening beyong belief. It's all been a build up.

So taking stock of reality--for me--means getting away from the post-it notes, websites and over-obsessing about moving ahead. It's the reality of what counts. It counts that I'm hanging out on this planet impacting the lives of people around me. I hope it's a positive impact most of the time. And even though I think it is negative and selfish just a tiny part of the time--when I get just a teensy bit frustrated with people who aren't on the same page--that's still too much.

Sometimes, I'm too forgiving of flawed human nature; other times, I'm so tough on myself that I can't move forward with a good sleep.

It sometimes takes a serious incident in life to jolt me back to the frightening and calming reality (all at once!) that you've got to focus on the things that are permanent. Job, position, things, details...they don't count. It's been a weird week so far; some absolutely crazy things have happened to the people around me. The purpose is far greater than just me, but I'm harvesting this opportunity to re-evaluate. ...Humor will return soon to Gropius.