A barbarian's work is never done
Watch it with that pigsticker, son!
Wow, Labor Day already. It seems like the summer just flew by.
Geez, I had a post all set to go and it has completely left me. I saw my friend Brian at Influence People ( http://influence-people-brian.blogspot.com) has just posted a piece on "What's your Worldview" and I think I was supposed to get a piece of art done for that and now I am gobsmacked, as some of my friends from the British Isles put it. My apologies Brian, I'll send you something soon.
Okay, now that I am clearing my head, I think I was going to talk about Labor Day and what it means to me, but since it only means taking the day off, hoping stores aren't closed and winter isn't coming too soon I'm not sure I'll have a lot to say.
When I was a kid I guess it meant a little more to me. When I was in school it almost always started after Labor Day. This was your last weekend to screw around, stay out late and find some trouble before school and homework started. Of course, going back to school also meant seeing all those girls you hadn't seen all summer so it wasn't all bad.
I never did well in school. Apparently, I didn't apply myself. At least that's what the teachers told me and, with much reflection, it is now something I know. I don't apply myself much. I try, but I get distracted easily. It's something I'm still working on as I've said in previous posts, although in those I think I referred to it as staying focused.
I think back on school and wonder how much I actually missed by not studying harder. By not really trying to grasp what was being taught did I do myself a disservice? I think I may have. I would not be the same person I am today had I done things differently, but as a thought experiment it is interesting to think about.
Would I have become a lawyer or doctor? Okay, not a doctor, medicine and sick people are icky, but maybe a lawyer. I do tend to argue with everybody. Would I have become something more? Like a politician? The current President of the US is only a couple of years older than me and I never see him at the comic book shop? Wonder why? Maybe he grew up and I'm still having trouble with that.
I think about these things not as regret, but kind of like that million dollar walk people do. You know the one. Where you imagine what you would do if you actually won the lottery. You walk around and think about whether or not you would be the same person? What would you spend the money on? Who would give money to? So, you don't do that? It doesn't make me creepy, I have to think about something when I walk the dog, but I digress.
Thinking about what your life may or may not have been like is how we understand who we are. It's how we can tell kids, "Hey, don't do what I did, even though I'm pretty successful, most of that was just luck." We look back on our lives and think, "Y'know, I could have done some things better. I could have been a better person." And then, if we're smart, and I'm not saying I am, but if you are, you look forward and try to figure out how not to make the same mistakes again.
At least that's my new labor, as I'll call it being that it is Labor Day. I want to spend the next year trying to be a better person than the one I was last year. I'm not going to bite off more than I can chew. I'm going to start small. Try to remember things I always forget. Try to remember to tell the ones I love how much I love them. Try and finish all the things I always say I'm going to finish, but never do.
Wow, sounds like New Year's resolutions have come early. Of course, I've never been one for New Year's resolutions in the past so I guess I'll try Labor Day resolutions and if they work out I'll come up with something for New Year's. Maybe you've got a couple of resolutions of your own. Maybe this will be a whole new beginning for all of us.
Cheers!
Wow, Labor Day already. It seems like the summer just flew by.
Geez, I had a post all set to go and it has completely left me. I saw my friend Brian at Influence People ( http://influence-people-brian.blogspot.com) has just posted a piece on "What's your Worldview" and I think I was supposed to get a piece of art done for that and now I am gobsmacked, as some of my friends from the British Isles put it. My apologies Brian, I'll send you something soon.
Okay, now that I am clearing my head, I think I was going to talk about Labor Day and what it means to me, but since it only means taking the day off, hoping stores aren't closed and winter isn't coming too soon I'm not sure I'll have a lot to say.
When I was a kid I guess it meant a little more to me. When I was in school it almost always started after Labor Day. This was your last weekend to screw around, stay out late and find some trouble before school and homework started. Of course, going back to school also meant seeing all those girls you hadn't seen all summer so it wasn't all bad.
I never did well in school. Apparently, I didn't apply myself. At least that's what the teachers told me and, with much reflection, it is now something I know. I don't apply myself much. I try, but I get distracted easily. It's something I'm still working on as I've said in previous posts, although in those I think I referred to it as staying focused.
I think back on school and wonder how much I actually missed by not studying harder. By not really trying to grasp what was being taught did I do myself a disservice? I think I may have. I would not be the same person I am today had I done things differently, but as a thought experiment it is interesting to think about.
Would I have become a lawyer or doctor? Okay, not a doctor, medicine and sick people are icky, but maybe a lawyer. I do tend to argue with everybody. Would I have become something more? Like a politician? The current President of the US is only a couple of years older than me and I never see him at the comic book shop? Wonder why? Maybe he grew up and I'm still having trouble with that.
I think about these things not as regret, but kind of like that million dollar walk people do. You know the one. Where you imagine what you would do if you actually won the lottery. You walk around and think about whether or not you would be the same person? What would you spend the money on? Who would give money to? So, you don't do that? It doesn't make me creepy, I have to think about something when I walk the dog, but I digress.
Thinking about what your life may or may not have been like is how we understand who we are. It's how we can tell kids, "Hey, don't do what I did, even though I'm pretty successful, most of that was just luck." We look back on our lives and think, "Y'know, I could have done some things better. I could have been a better person." And then, if we're smart, and I'm not saying I am, but if you are, you look forward and try to figure out how not to make the same mistakes again.
At least that's my new labor, as I'll call it being that it is Labor Day. I want to spend the next year trying to be a better person than the one I was last year. I'm not going to bite off more than I can chew. I'm going to start small. Try to remember things I always forget. Try to remember to tell the ones I love how much I love them. Try and finish all the things I always say I'm going to finish, but never do.
Wow, sounds like New Year's resolutions have come early. Of course, I've never been one for New Year's resolutions in the past so I guess I'll try Labor Day resolutions and if they work out I'll come up with something for New Year's. Maybe you've got a couple of resolutions of your own. Maybe this will be a whole new beginning for all of us.
Cheers!
Comments
Post a Comment