Things going very well for me
Things not going well
can I swap work and sports on the lists? who is in charge?
For real though why is it that not everything can go well all at once?
Thanks for listening
Need to leave room for improvement.
.
I’m a Harry Potter nerd, much to my wife’s chagrin.
I’ve always liked this Horace Slughorn quote, the substance of which many others have said in one way or another throughout history:
*“There can be no light without the dark, and so it is with magic. Myself, I always strive to live within the light.” *
Per your other post about weekend plans, here’s wishing you a happy weekend on MDI living within the light.
Per your other post about weekend plans, here’s wishing you a happy weekend on MDI living within the light.
Thanks. 
Law of chaos maybe.
Every challenge is an opportunity?
Not that i live by that…. 
Hang in there.
I understand where you are coming from. Whenever I am feeling like you are currently, I am reminded there are folks suffering through things far worse than me.
Just learned a close friend of my wife and I who we do vacations with has learned she has Stage 3 liver cancer. She has been given 1-3 years best case scenario to live. Our last trip together we mentioned we thought it might be the last time we traveled together.
Keep your chin up and keep plugging along. There are always silver linings when you least expect to see them.
I understand where you are coming from. Whenever I am feeling like you are currently, I am reminded there are folks suffering through things far worse than me.
That is 100% true.
I’d say 1000% but I’m a mathematician
Yes it’s called the law of golf for the weekend hack. Your drives are great but your putting sucks or vice versa.
It is not the laws of math, it is psychology. If everything were going well, your notion of “well†would be raised. And, some aspect of your life would fall below that new, higher line.
Yes. The second law of thermodynamics, also known as Entropy. Things inevitably move from a state of order to disorder. I think about this often in the context of health, specifically how our bodies and brains work with remarkable predictability. It’s absolutely astonishing that people are born healthy and fully functional and that most of us, in our squishy insignificant blobs of carbon, live a relatively long and healthy life, given the infinite number of possible things than can go wrong.
Add to that your list of conditions you’re hoping will align in your favor, when in reality you ultimately have absolutely no control over those conditions whatsoever, only a small sliver of influence at best… So when viewed properly, the alignment of everything going right, or how you want them to be, is so improbable that it’s best thought of as impossible, so you take the W’s where you get them, appreciate them while they last, and don’t begrudge those other conditions as though you have any right to expect them to be different.
The fact that you are who you are, doing what you’re doing, how your are doing it, alive in this particular moment in time to experience it, is the biggest fucking win you should hope for.
Be kind, consistent, forgiving, and accessible to your family. Do your best at sports and enjoy the fact that you can participate and maximize your potential. Count the blessings and reflect it in your attitude. Give yourself and others that gift.
Thank you for attending my Ted Talk.
It is not the laws of math, it is psychology. If everything were going well, your notion of “well†would be raised. And, some aspect of your life would fall below that new, higher line.
that is a very interesting answer!
So much of life and outcomes seems to be random chance, sprinkled with a seasoning of hard work, preparation and talent.
“You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.â€
― Marcus Aurelius
And I agree with sphere - entropy is the natural inevitability we all shall face.
I think about the guy who I saw die recently in a car crash. Had he delayed his trip just a few seconds, he’d still be alive. And then I think about all of the people who didn’t die because they were on time, or they were late, or they turned left instead of right - we never think about them because why would we?
So much of life and outcomes seems to be random chance, sprinkled with a seasoning of hard work, preparation and talent.
“You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.â€
― Marcus Aurelius
And I agree with sphere - entropy is the natural inevitability we all shall face.
I think about the guy who I saw die recently in a car crash. Had he delayed his trip just a few seconds, he’d still be alive. And then I think about all of the people who didn’t die because they were on time, or they were late, or they turned left instead of right - we never think about them because why would we?
a real world example of the above…
On Wednesday I had a slow leak on my bikes front tire. A went into a hard 90 degree right turn and down I went sliding across my lane into the oncoming lane. A big pickup saw it happening and stopped with 20 feet to spare. What if I was a few seconds behind?
It’s the Law of Large Numbers.
It keeps everything from going bad at once too.
The great part of having that diversification is that you always have things going well to appreciate, and things to improve upon. Someone who has all their self worth wrapped up in a single endeavor has a much larger risk of being miserable. Consider an athlete that has their entire social and financial security are tied up in one performance (ex. making the Olympics). They are one sprint from glory, and one injury from crisis.
It’s the Law of Large Numbers.
It keeps everything from going bad at once too.
The great part of having that diversification is that you always have things going well to appreciate, and things to improve upon. Someone who has all their self worth wrapped up in a single endeavor has a much larger risk of being miserable. Consider an athlete that has their entire social and financial security are tied up in one performance (ex. making the Olympics). They are one sprint from glory, and one injury from crisis.
I like your explanation.
I also looked up the law of attraction, which says (I think) that where you focus your positive efforts, positive results will follow. Because our attention is not limitless, the effects that flow from it are necessarily limited. Ergo, we won’t have 100% satisfaction. Ha
Thank goodness there’s still important work to be done! We won’t get bored yet.
I’m a Harry Potter nerd, much to my wife’s chagrin.
I’ve always liked this Horace Slughorn quote, the substance of which many others have said in one way or another throughout history:
*“There can be no light without the dark, and so it is with magic. Myself, I always strive to live within the light.” *
Or …
“Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, when one only remembers to turn on the light.” - Dumbledore
I also looked up the law of attraction, which says (I think) that where you focus your positive efforts, positive results will follow. Because our attention is not limitless, the effects that flow from it are necessarily limited. Ergo, we won’t have 100% satisfaction. Ha
Thank goodness there’s still important work to be done! We won’t get bored yet.
I’m super attractive. Hence lots of positivity should follow!!!
. . .
I think about the guy who I saw die recently in a car crash. Had he delayed his trip just a few seconds, he’d still be alive. And then I think about all of the people who didn’t die because they were on time, or they were late, or they turned left instead of right - we never think about them because why would we?
a real world example of the above…
On Wednesday I had a slow leak on my bikes front tire. A went into a hard 90 degree right turn and down I went sliding across my lane into the oncoming lane. A big pickup saw it happening and stopped with 20 feet to spare. What if I was a few seconds behind?
Would it? I sometimes think of the randomness vs. deterministic stuff implied here.
If the guy delayed his trip by a few secs, he would’ve missed the accident. That implies the accident would’ve still happened.
Or if you were making that bike turn a few secs later, the pickup would’ve been 20 feet closer .
But these seemingly minor what-ifs here and there to you and I can also be happening in the world to everyone else as well; On a constant basis. The cumulative effect suggests that life could be made up of a very different set of events. Truly an alternative universe of possibilities. Unless one thinks that life is deterministic and what happened was always going to happen anyway.
“things going well” is a relative term to some kind of “standard”.
In a zen-like purely-in-the-moment-state, then there is no relativism. There just is. One can choose to be ok with things, or not.
(But yeah, but sometimes it’s hard to not get pissed-off about some stuff, and have a bad day or days)