Radiant brilliance

One thing about the sun - it's brilliant. I've heard it's more of an average to low-medium star in the big scheme of the universe. Other stars can outshine it. That doesn't matter a whole lot since I will never get to see any of those other stars in any way except as remotely distant stars in a dark night sky. The sun I see everyday is the most brilliant object I will ever get to see in life.

I have people around me, fortunately, who shine brightly and send their rays into my life. I bask in their radiance. They make me better. I even try to light up others' lives because I have been warmed. I am grateful for the sun that greets me every morning as I wake and for those who warm my heart and make me better from their brilliance.

And there's really only one sun that greets my thoughts as I walk in the park most mornings.

Making the shape beautiful

A couple of days ago, I had the trees at my house pruned. They had not been pruned in a really long time. They look so much better. The limbs are in the shape they should be, and they are at the right height. The limbs that had begun to touch the roof were removed, and the ones on wires were cut back. The usual pruning.

Our bodies do it naturally, too. Cells die and are replaced, even in the brain. Hair grows and falls out, but is replaced by other hair. Nails act the same way. Internally, white blood cells have to always watch to remove the toxins and unwanted substances from making us ill.

Pruning just helps. Occasionally, I have to look around to see what I can do to make my life more shapely, more effecient, less at risk, more productive. Sometimes, I can do this automatically and at other times, I have to make time to do it. One part of this process is to be mentally productive, shedding antiquated information and preparing it with new for those times when knowledge will win the day. Another part is to shape the heart, allowing it to drop unpleasant feelings of past events and to continue very special memories and hope of moments that bring true enjoyment in life.

3-2=+1

I read a book a great number of years ago called Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Backward. It was about the trials and tribulations of life. But, as I think of the title, I see that the book is really about forward progress. The net result is still a postiive one step (3-2). It's a great principle in life that Rome was not built in a day or that we can only take one step at a time. As convoluted as the picture of life is at times, it's refreshing to know that progress is made in the smallest units - a step at a time. Even if the path beneath our feet seems to have reversed, it's just the two steps backwards before we are propelled ahead 3 steps. Backwards is merely a snapshot. It really is a two-step prelude to the forward three steps that follow. And forward progress means we are on the road to somewhere, the road toward our goals.

Exchanges

The brain does something curious at 10 months of age. Its produces about double the amount of neurons than before and it lasts just about 4 months. After that the signal is given to prune the brain's neurons. It will be another 10-12 years before that happens again and it will be driven by hormones when it happens at that time. At 10 months the brain needs all those cells in order to test the full range of possible sounds for the language the child is born into. After the sounds have been tested in all that babbling and after the baby is sure that (s)he has distilled the sounds from the native tongue, then the neurons are reduced in by about 1/2 and the neural network for language acquisition has been started. After the language network has been started, then the brain can concentrate on something else to develop. It trades the neurons available to keep the full range of sounds to develop whatever else in the baby's environment needs developing, keen eyesight, for example, or keen hearing.

There is a saying in English, "Life is a series of trade-offs." I know the saying originated from something else in life other than language acquisition, but what the brain does with language is a good example of the principle. When we need something, it is produced but at the cost of something else. When a stroke victim has to learn language again, it is not usually through the left hemisphere, the original location of language, but with the right hemisphere since there is no damage there. Another example is with cab drivers. The area of the brain that works with directionality is larger with cab drivers than in other people. But, to gain that directionality, something has to be traded off. So, they are weaker in speed in some area of lesser utility than the area using directions.

Had I known the trade-off principle earlier in life, I know I would have done things differently. Now I understand, which makes me more leary of being willing to pursue something because I know there will be a trade-off somewhere. There are also those times when I know exactly what would be traded off if I were to make particular decisions. I would jump at those opportunities and fully enjoy the new pursuit. Some trades are desired and are the stuff dreams and hopes are made of.

Few have seen

These tracks cross a snowpatch on Rapadalen Mountain, Sweden, above the Arctic Circle. Very few people will ever see these tracks. That doesn't matter. It doesn't reduce their beauty in such a pristine environment. Symbolically speaking, we all have people in our lives that we retreat to (whether physically present or not) when we need their beautiful qualities, their smiles, their vibrance. When life produces frustration from its twists and curves, it's the retreat to the almost hidden snow tracks that offer comfort and renewed spirits for hanging on till better times come. I am thankful for the snow tracks high on the mountain, created by that special one, to retreat to this evening. Monday brings a better day.

Fast-paced investing

Trading currencies is a little like gambling in Las Vegas. You have to know when to buy and sell based on the spread of a pair two currencies. It's a very fast-paced style of trading. In stocks, you can look at charts of today's trading, the last week's trading, the last month's, the last year's, on up to the last decade's. In trading currency you click on 1 month, 1 week, 1 hour, down to 1 minute. You have to be really on your toes.

It's not the kind of investing for the faint-hearted. It takes some risk, but it also takes study and watching particular pairs, like the Euro and US dollar, or the Chinese Yuan and the US Dollar. It's only fun if you're in the plus column. It's such a sinking feeling to look up and see that you have lost 20% of your money.

It has taken me a while to settle on something to invest in, but now I think I have found a niche. It's my version of being around something lively, challenging, and productive even if it drives me into an ADHD world. If done right, it will provide profit along with its suspense and fast pace.

Top of the heap

I am sitting here watching the Patriots play tonight. I watch them every chance I get, which is not every week since I do not live in New England. I watch them for the same reason I watch the Lakers in basketball. I like the coach and the main player. Nobody is better than Bill Bellicek and Tom Brady. Both are at the very top of their game. They just win - not every game, but most of the time. They are competent.

I am attracted to people who are competent. They study hard, work hard, and most of the time you can place a winning bet on their outcomes. I have been around both competent and incompetent people at work and in other categories of life. What I really despise is the person who has swagger and a high opinion of himself/herself but who has little to offer except bluster. It doesn't take long for the bluster to become a thin veil for the incompetence that lies behind it.

Everyone has an area or two of incompetence, but generally people know what those areas are and try to compensate through friends who can help or through avoidance of situations that might show their flaws. Just in the last week I have come across several such incompetent people - an attorney who has given bad advice to jeopardize the custody of a couple's children, a detective that refuses to advance a case that clearly begs for something to be done, a person at work who cannot be organized on any kind of long or medium term basis and who proffers opinions not based on evidence or research, and a speaker who gave out inaccurate information because of lack of preparation.

So, when I see competence, especially in people I like to surround myself with or to relax in watching as a form of entertainment, I want to shout and jump and let them know that I do so appreciate the beauty of their level of performance. Few have it. It's why they are the top rock on the heap.

The face of attitude

I see faces when I think of attitudes of people in my life. I see my father's face when I think of leaving for college. I'll never forget his words to me as I left for my freshman year, representing an attitude of support for all my future endeavors. And when I think of times of honesty and rejuvenation, I see a face of a friend who over a 20 year period of time has been with me through thick and thin. And when I think of repulsion, I think of someone in whose veins I am sure Neanderthal blood runs. I have a face for repression, egocentrism, eternal optimism, and chronic depression. I can see a host of other faces, all exhibiting certain attitudes or behaviors. But, there is a single face that appears when it comes to vitality, exuberance, and competence... a single, smiling face.

Enchanted

I used to have a picture of the Andes Mountains similar to this one hanging in my office. I find the mountains enchanting. They intrigue me. I like their beauty because they are in stark contrast to most other scenic terrains.

People who stand in stark contrast to the run-of-the-mill crowd I am also enchanted by. I can't exactly hang them up in my office, but I can love being around them whenever possible, love hearing their voices when they call, and lock them into my heart forever.

Drops of refreshment

Today was the hottest day of the summer so far - heat index of 111, temperature of 105. I was proofing some documents for work looking out the window as I was doing so. The sun was still shining and it was hot even inside the house. From nowhere rain began hitting the ground, the house, my car, the porch - big, big drops of rain. The drops were falling from the merest wisp of a slightly gray-tinted cloud. Momentum began making the drops fall in ever increasing amounts until in five minutes a real torrent was pouring from the sky that was only slightly overcast on only one part of it. In another five minutes it quit. No lightning, no thunder, just 10 minutes worth of a downpour.

I had gone outside during the torrent. The smell was so refreshing. I kept breathing in deeply because I couldn't get enough of the refreshment. It was life-giving to the ground that needed it desperately. It was life-giving to me in the midst of a sweltering day.

Not long ago my life received rain amidst its desolation. It restored me. I am thankful and refreshed and still breathing in deeply.

Dance of the wise

Proverbs in society sometimes offer conflicting advice with their wisdom. For example, the following two proverbs seem to assert opposite claims.

Good things come to those who wait.

and

If you stand still, life will pass you by.

I suppose a person could justify that both adages bring with them great wisdom and a wise person would know when to act on the two bits of sophistry. They do appear contradictory, however. So, I just need to say that I don't know which is true, and it is often not apparent which of the pearls of wisdom to live by or act upon. I have one goal in life. I don't plan to wait, but if I end up waiting, it will be worth the wait. As in nearly everything, accomplishing something is not entirely within the scope of my own actions. I also don't plan to rashly push when waiting is wiser for realizing this goal.

So, I act and wait, wait and act. I do a delicate dance. I learn to read life as it happens and perform the dance of the wise.

Tide cycles

Recently I got to see the tide ebb and flow on a coastline. It was really beautiful. The waves would begin rolling in and crashing against the rocks. The waves would eventually grow stronger, striking with forceful crests. As time passed, the tide would begin to recede and the waves' strength would weaken. All of this with seagulls peering down into the water as they flew above it. Occasionally, they would dive down till they hit the water, then fly away with a fish in their beaks. Crabs would crawl in the foam left behind by the crashing water no matter what the level of water was. All the other water creatures carried on as if they did not notice a high tide/low tide cyle.

I was visiting with a friend about the dramatic events that happen in one's life and how that changes a lot of things. Life has cycles to it much like the tides in the ocean. And, many times people react to the cycles as the water creatures do - as if nothing different is happening. But, for me, in the last 7 years, there have been 2 dramatic events both of which changed me in many, many ways. One happened 7 years ago, one 18 months ago. The first laid the groundwork for the second. The first allowed me to know that one must make the best use of time because a person cannot tell what is around the corner. Thus, as far as it has to do with me, I need to live justly, decently, surrounding myself with the things and people that will create happiness. The second allowed me to know that life can be vibrant and full of verve. As convoluted and unpleasant as life can be sometimes, it matters who is around you and who you allow into your psyche.

Snipe - snipe

Someone today found out that I had a linguistic background and actually very sarcastically asked for an "expert" analysis of a sentence used in a power point. He didn't hear the analysis he wanted or thought he would get. He piped down after that.

Life brings those unexpected moments on a fairly regular basis. Last week and again today someone crossed the line and wanted to frame me in a rather unflattering light. I guess the person didn't expect a backlash from doing that. Wrong - I can play point/counterpoint if engaged.

Just to think that I really try to be a peace-loving person. Too edgy? Perhaps, but being on the battlefield makes a person a little keener in developing those self-preservation instincts. Survival of the fittest is the law of the wild. I will be back in the tame environment away from the battlefield in a few short days. I truly hope no more targeted shots come my way... but if they do, I'm not planning to take any prisoners.

Like apples of gold

There is a Hebrew proverb that says:

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold on a setting of silver.

I spent some time alone in Portland, Maine and on an island off the coast of Maine. It was rejuvenating. It soothed my soul. I also spent time in Newport Island, Rhode Island, but it was spent with others and I ended up having a headache from it. The second was like an apple of gold on a setting of plastic. The first was like the Hebrew proverb.

I guess it was the reflection time that made the first event a gold and silver experience. I have other experiences that qualify for gold and silver. One of them stands head and shoulders above the rest. It brought shining and spirited life to a desolate and wasted desert. I am so thankful for apples of gold on settings of silver. They make me better.

Loving it!

Every so often events in life go right. A person works hard, establishes a reputation, and gets rewarded. It seems simple, but life is complex and convoluted. Most don't get the recognition they deserve. So tonight I go to sleep smiling for a kindred spirit who was rewarded for working hard and establishing a great reputation. Just loving it!