How to Escape Death, Furious Indifference, Seeking the Good Through a SAGE Brain

He can only get away from death by continually stepping within an inch of it. A soldier surrounded by enemies, if he is to cut his way out, needs to combine a strong desire for living with a strange carelessness about dying. He must not merely cling to life, for then he will be a coward, and will not escape. He must not merely wait for death, for then he will be a suicide, and will not escape. He must seek his life in a spirit of furious indifference to it; he must desire life like water and yet drink death like wine. No philosopher, I fancy, has ever expressed this romantic riddle with adequate lucidity, and I certainly have not done so. But Christianity has done more: it has marked the limits of it in the awful graves of the suicide and the hero, showing the distance between him who dies for the sake of living and him who dies for the sake of dying.”
— G.K. Chesterton (Orthodoxy)

Good morning. Can you believe it is Thursday already?  I mean, Monday was just a couple of hours ago; I find as I age, time moves faster.  I remember sitting in class as a child and watching the clock advance and an hour back then is like a week today.

So how is your week?  Ours is fine, good, well, excellent.  I worked until 10:30 and went to meet my friend Jay for lunch, then we had two others join us, and we played nine holes of golf.  I don’t play much anymore, I used to play a considerable amount, but now, about every other week, I’ll grab 9.  I enjoy the game but do not like to be away from my wife; I genuinely enjoy every moment I get to spend with my mate.

Today I have a few appointments; we have a hike scheduled with our pup; Bay came over last night, we played cards, dined, and I think she might work from here this morning. My pup is sitting on my bean bag; my coffee is rich and to my right, as is my YETI water bottle. The electric company was out and approved our solar installation; we will begin pumping energy back to the grid in a week or so.

We ran down the hill a couple of days ago, and we listened to NPR.  I’ve mentioned a time or two they have a trifecta of focus. For example, in Covid, Race, and Climate Change, each story features one or another, and sometimes they work a two together.   The report focused on climate change, but black and brown people are hurt more because of our society’s systemic way.   There might be some truth to the story, but like with most things, if you constantly beat on the same drum, the sound begins to dissipate.

It’s easy to get caught up in what’s wrong, but why can’t we focus on all the good in the world. For example, in your toilet, you have cleaner water than most of the population.  If you are reading these words, there is a good chance you have an excellent shelter, maybe more than one, a vehicle or two to get you from place to place and means that allows you to live a peaceful, joyous existence.  There are times it is good to look at the micro vs. the macro.

Let’s take something terrible and make it good.  Climate change, it’s true the earth is heating, maybe 1 degree over the next hundred years, I’m not a scientist, but I’m comfortable temperatures are going up and not down.  We’ve had a few ice ages during our planet’s history; I’m happy we are catching it on the upswing; humans will be focused on the coming ice age in a few hundred years.

There is a sticky note to my right reminding me it’s trash day.  We missed the last couple; we’ve been hosting many people at our home, which means a lot of trash.  We had to run a load down this week just to catch up; if I miss trash day today, I will be in big trouble. Also, our driveway is at a 45-degree angle; pulling up 50 pounds of trash is a workout; we now do the garbage together, one of the many things we like to do together. 

Next May, I got an opportunity to speak for an association; they want me to share how a young person entering the industry should build their brand.  I’ve got five kids under the age of 25 in our firm; each person is different; how does each begin building a book of business and succeed in our industry?  I’ve got a road map; it’s not easy, you have to get up and get at it, but if one is willing to put in the time, you can have treasures beyond your wildest dreams.

We had our agency call yesterday.  Our new teammate in Florida shared a story about her morning walks with her mother.  They take a walking path every day, and each day, they are passed by a man on an electric skateboard, the man has a large backpack, and he carries two large swords in the pack.  Since she knows the Sherrif, she reached out and was told, “Oh, we know him, he’s the local meth dealer, he lives at Main and 16th, we’ve got our eye on him.”  Welcome to Florida!

I also informed my team that at our firm, we would not be mandating anything.  If they want to get poked, so be it; good on them if they’re going to take their chance.  One teammate shared her mother lost a friend to the disease; she refused to be vaccinated, she made her choice, and isn’t that a founding principle of this country?  Each day that passes, I see another reach for one of our rights; the nuisance from city to city, county to county, and state to state is intriguing to me.

Strange times, but good times as well, there is so much to be celebrated, and yes, some things can be viewed in a negative light, but no matter the time, there will always be good and evil, and it is up to you to determine how you interpret your world.  If you believe in something bigger than yourself, it might help shift your interpretation of events.  There is a guiding hand at work; he will provide stability even when things look like they are spinning out of control. 

Choose your thoughts and ideas carefully.  Understand there are two sides to your brain; one likes to tell you about your shortcomings, and the other side will shine a light on your fantastic beautiful self.  There is a SAGE brain and a SABATEOUR brain; you can pick the one you want to follow, and meditation can lock you into the SAGE aspects of life.  I must run to get that trash out and then meditate to find the real reason for my existence.  Cheers, I’ll see you tomorrow.

He can only get away from death by continually stepping within an inch of it. A soldier surrounded by enemies, if he is to cut his way out, needs to combine a strong desire for living with a strange carelessness about dying. He must not merely cling to life, for then he will be a coward, and will not escape. He must not merely wait for death, for then he will be a suicide, and will not escape. He must seek his life in a spirit of furious indifference to it; he must desire life like water and yet drink death like wine. No philosopher, I fancy, has ever expressed this romantic riddle with adequate lucidity, and I certainly have not done so. But Christianity has done more: it has marked the limits of it in the awful graves of the suicide and the hero, showing the distance between him who dies for the sake of living and him who dies for the sake of dying.”
— G.K. Chesterton (Orthodoxy)