An Unexpected Lesson From Mr. Caufield

I’ve been reading Catcher in the Rye, again. That is to say, I’ve just read Catcher and the Rye again, rather. I have should have been done before today, really.

The problem, and I’ve realized this is a recurring theme, is that I just forget what’s important. I’m easily excited, I forget about the bigger picture, if only momentarily. That’s what happened with this Salinger classic. That’s why I didn’t get it finished earlier. I just forget what’s important. I never forget what’s REALLY important. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I have my shit together. I get distracted easily though when it comes to less important things.

I was eating some toast with Nutella, watching MTV Czech when I was blindsided by the memory of the commitment I’d made myself. I resisted at first. I was having a great time lounging about, after all. But I asked myself why I had written it down. I wanted to finish Catcher because I wanted to start a new book and for urgencies sake that book needed to be read quickly because it was non-fiction and therefore immediately pertinent to my life. When I remembered why I had written down the goal or obligation in the first place, I wanted to do it again. I had to take a mental step back from the “incredibly stimulating” reality I had occupied, before the idle thought.

I’m glad I’ve identified the behaviour, that’s a practical first step. Now I just need to work on remembering things better. Maybe it’s just a matter of writing down everything I deem important, and carrying around said written account. That’s a good second step, at the very least. And I already do it, to a large extent. I just forget sometimes, usually once I’m at home.

Anyways, that’s what I observed today, thanks for stopping by. Any insights appreciated, as per usual.

PS: I’ve been listening to these Zig Ziglar tapes, as I alluded to yesterday. I like it when he said everyone should write a book, or what some less ambitious people might call a journal, because I’m doing that. Not that a book necessarily needs to be published.

Alignment

I haven't blogged for awhile because I've been busy. It's the weekend now though, and while my schedule is still packed tighter than the cotton at the top of a bottle of Advil Cold and Sinus I have managed to find a way to breathe clearly, so to speak. I have been busy with work, the story goes. I'm trying hard to be awesome at it. Every week I'm making progress, I should do well if I can keep that up.

Recently, I've realized that to be awesome at work, I have to be awesome at a bunch of other things.

You see it's not JUST about working hard. It's about being awesome in the most encompassing of manners. It's about ironing my clothes on the weekend so that I look sharp all week. It means buying healthy groceries and preparing food properly so that I can sustain myself in a healthy manner. It demands exercising and trying to sleep right (the latter being a major challenge for me, generally speaking). To be truly great (whatever that means) I don't think you can be good at just one thing. I think life needs to become a sort of positive feedback machine, where everything you do makes up a framework that allows you to best accomplish your goals, whatever they may be. It's about creating a successful lifestyle. It's about alignment. It's why I believe that Gary Johnson is the most compelling candidates for Presidential Election (honestly watch the first 2 minutes and tell me you don't think the same, the guy exudes character and integrity). And it's because everything he does is underscored by awesomeness. By ambition, passion and solid logic.

Now to write another blog post for the middle of the week when I don't have time to write; all to appear awesome at writing, of course.

Oatmeal and Self-Discovery on a Sunday Morning

I'm eating a large bowl of piping hot oatmeal. It's quasi-delicious, I work hard to convince myself it's tasty because I know it's good for me. More important, it is a subtle sign that things in my life are starting to come together, at least a little bit. Oatmeal for breakfast has served as an important litmus test in my life over the past few years. Allow me to explain.

A great book, "The Opposable Mind" suggests we often gloss over apparent trivialities in an attempt to simplify the complex realities in which we must operate. The result is a faster and more efficient decision making process but it is inherently, one that suffers a compromise. Often times, the critical information we eliminate, is that which disagrees with our ingrained fundamental values and beliefs. To discover innovative and more creative solutions to complicated problems we must objectively listen to our staunchest critics. Much easier said, than done. I do think value exists in thinking about thinking. On one hand I might be wasting time postulating about a bowl of dried oats, but my analysis will continue in the spirit of the corollary, that some better understanding may come from the most meagre of cereals.

Taking a jaunt to a whole new world really toys with your priorities. Two months ago, I was in the middle of orchestrating a symphony of intricate social plans with people whom I had only a few weeks left to share. My biggest concern was Jack Daniel's or Coldshots? One month ago, I didn't know where to buy food. I didn't know where the grocery store was, what the grocery store was called or where to buy the oatmeal once I did manage to pinpoint the local dispensary. I'm resorting to sprinkling with sugar instead of the still elusive low-calorie sweetener I would prefer, but I'll take one small victory at a time.

ASIDE: Conveniently liquor and beer are available everywhere here so it's less of a problem. I still do my best to consume it in the most contemporary of manners.

Further reflection upon the last few weeks and what it might mean leads me to maintain that the actual process of obtaining the oatmeal was the tip of this particular proverbial float of ice. The 90% that remains lurking beneath the surface is more interesting if not a little convoluted. Consider for instance, that it wasn't until this week that I've started eating oatmeal again. For three weeks I bought things sporadically, if I ate the most important meal at all. Consider further, that I had had the oatmeal in my cupboard for a week before I started eating it. It takes time to make and is not the easiest food to eat in a rush. In short: I had much bigger problems to worry about.

May 2009 forced me to face a drastic shift in priorities. Oatmeal seemed irrelevant until only recently and certainly my struggles held more consequence than where to get the drunkest and which girls to harass with 140 character instant messages.

In the last month I've started to learn what Robert Martin wrote so well about. Perspective is something we might think we possess but there is always more to the picture than our simple mental models will at first allow us to understand. Embrace complexity, even in the simplest and seemingly most mundane things may clues about the inner workings of our lives lie. Alternatively, a bowl of hot cereal might be just that, but we don't know until we objectively consider what it has to offer.

Do new things. Challenge yourself. Put yourself in an uncomfortable situation in the short term for the notion of long term benefit. You might go a few weeks subsisting on stale bread and spoons laden with Nutella while you worry about if you're going to get jumped by a gang of Neo-Nazis or scammed by gypsies. But you will eventually get your oatmeal. And when you do, it will be the best bowl yet.

As if you just read such a long post about oatmeal.