We live in hairy times, don’t we? It’s a unique time to live in history as they say. But perhaps, just perhaps, we have always lived in harried and fearful times. That’s always been a part of our human experience. History is very much like Hegel tells us, The Geist unfolding towards God in one interpretation.
So how do I find my way in this world? Well, I think the very first thing I must do on a daily basis, when I wake up, I must feel a deep sense of gratitude that I’ve been given one more day of life. Now when you’re old, this is especially true because just maybe you’re not going to be given this day, but let’s assume that you are and you have it. Then gratitude. Thankfulness that the bed is clean and warm, though you have to leave it.
Your house is comfortable. You can go to the kitchen and have a cup of coffee. Perhaps you have some books that you can look over. You have decent friends, good employment, a little money in the bank, a loving family. Gosh, I’m lucky to be alive for sure.
So what I’ve started to do in the last while, I’ve started to have a concept that I put in my notebook on a daily basis and this is the concept of the win. Much like we play a sport, let’s say a baseball game. You’re down. It’s the bottom of the 9th inning. You’re down 2 runs, perhaps.
The score is 7 to 5. The bases are loaded. The batter is up. Can he hit a home run? And the answer of course is yes.
For sure. Therefore, you have your win conceptually. So, some days my win is rather small. I appreciate that I had enough time to finish my cup of coffee in the morning. And the other days, it’s much more substantial.
Perhaps I’ve discovered something intellectual or spiritual for that matter. So a sense of win. Now, I think it’s important to identify that we need to look for a win on a daily basis. And where would I find it? Well, I think if I go out, I first of all, like we were saying before, I need a sense of gratitude.
And then I need for sure a sense of how I can find joy in the moment. Well, I can go for a quick walk and I can look at the flowers, the bees, and the bugs. I can, perhaps, text a friend. All of these things. And as Seneca, the great stoic philosopher tells us, true happiness is to enjoy the present without anxious dependency upon the future.
Not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears, but to rest satisfied with what we have. It’s a great quote. Now he is an interesting man because he was the teacher of Nero, one of the Roman emperors. And Nero eventually turned on him and accused him of being part of a conspiracy to kill him. And Seneca was forced to take his own life rather tragically.
So look for that moment on a daily basis. Now how do I find that time? Well, I add an additional thought for you from the book of Ecclesiastes from the bible. Now Ecclesiastes, by tradition, was written by Solomon. Now Solomon is an interesting character because he was considered the wise king of Israel.
He was presented with a case, 2 women and one child. Each of the women claimed that the child was hers. Now this was a time that, of course, many many children died in childbirth. So everyone is healthy. The women are healthy and the male child is healthy.
Each claiming that the child is hers. So Solomon, being wise said, okay. Let’s be fair. Let’s cut the child in 2 and each can have half. Now obviously, killing the child.
So one woman then said, no, Solomon. No, King Solomon. Give the child to the other, please. I want the child to live. And King Solomon realized, of course, that was the mother because only the mother would be willing to sacrifice her love, basically, for the safety and love of the child.
So he rewarded the child to her. He has a thought about time living in a moment. There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the sun. A time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, A time to tear down and a time to build. A time to weep and a time to laugh.
A time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, and a time to love and a time to hate, and a time for war and a time for peace. In other words, there is a time for me, for the self to live in the moment, find my wind, and go forth and develop me. And like I’ve often said, unless I develop me, the gift that is me will never unfold. So the next time you’re frustrated or anxious, just think of the gratitude that you should receive on a daily basis because you are alive and look for your win.
It’s there in front of you. I should also say just in passing, I also give myself a daily score and I make a point of trying to be in the upper echelon of my ranking. I always give myself an 8 and above. It’s out of 10, I should say. Now I really don’t want to go below that because I don’t want to feel pain to that extent.
It’s unnecessary. And you know what they say. You know what they say. Critical thinking is necessary. If we’re gonna go forward in life, we’re gonna find our win, and critical thinking is great, truly great. You take care. God bless. Bye bye.