COMPARISONS

COMPARISONS

There are things I did, thoughts I believed, ways I voted, etc. years ago that I do not subscribe to the way I live today.  So please don’t compare me or yourself for who we were then, but the person we are today.  Comparisons are the thief of joy.  Life is all about perspective.

If you live in the United States of America with all its faults and warts, you may easily become a victim of comparisons without appreciating how good life can be here.  The U.S. economy has the world’s largest Gross Domestic Product.  New York’s economy is as big as Canada and Texas’ is as big as Italy. 

You may think you have a boring life compared to your neighbor, but there are world citizens praying for such a life, where every day is a struggle for survival.  Our basic problem seems to revolve around appreciating what we have and becoming more of a citizen of the world by finding out how others live and helping them, rather than comparing our lot in life by others in our country.  We’re living better than the majority of the world’s population.  We freak out when the power is interrupted by a storm for a few hours, oblivious to the circumstances of millions that live without utilities every day.  We take too much for granted, since most folks around us have them.

We’re forever complaining about our lack of athletic abilities compared to the pros that were born gifted and practice incessantly every day to hone those skills.  We compare our height, weight, looks, talents, etc. to extraordinary people who represent a minutia of the world’s population, but are constantly on all sorts of social media, leaving us with the impression that these types are everywhere and we got the short end of the stick.

The only comparison we need to worry about is being a better person than we were yesterday.  And help make the world a better place, one person at a time.  Let it begin with me.

MEMORY DOORWAYS

DOORWAYS, Jamestown, NC

Most all of us humanoids have experienced the baffling experience of having some specific chore on our minds as we walk into a room, are distracted by a phone call while on our iPads, driving without the guidance of electronic devices, etc. and we suddenly lose track of our intentions.  Based on a recent article on the subject, it seems as though our brain has been creating mental bookmarks called event boundaries, dividing our day into distinct before-and-after sections for easier recall.  For example, as we move from room to room through our doorways, our brain perceives a change in environment, triggering a change in boundaries.  Things usually go as planned unless we become distracted.   

For example, we may be on a mission to Google a question when we are interrupted by a call.  When we finish the call, we can no longer recall what we were searching for on the Internet.  Or we have every intention to walk into the study for a ball point pen when we are distracted by noticing a stack of papers that need our immediate attention.  In all these cases, the brain has been distracted by the sensations we perceive as we enter any new event boundary, losing the memory that sent us there in the first place.

Once the memory is out of reach, the only recourse might be to retrace our steps to the beginning of our quest on the iPad or in the room whose doorway exit caused us to lose our initial objective.  Or we could simply focus on not being distracted before we achieve our initial objective!