Insidious Adaptation

That look, a reminder of a former self, a self that was better than this version now. That man I used to be, he was so much better than me now. He was muscular and cool, though he didn't see it at the time. This man gets brought back up whenever he is reminded of the superficial presentation of others he used to be, "in the mix" with. 5 years ago! That man, that front of a person, for he lacked anything real, he is exactly as I remember him, anything anyone else liked. He was a ghost, a mirage, giving everybody everything they ever wanted, at the cost of him. This was not noble, or, "nice" it was for selfish gain, for you to like him and gather admiration. Even a cloud or fog finds resistance to an airplane to vehicle passing through. He wasn't valuable, but was merely Santa's bag, giving the kids whatever they asked for. His own wealth put off, converted to a currency of here and now, that same "now," that is over, with no lasting benef...

A marathon started as a commemoration of the run made by  Pheidippides , a messenger from the  Battle of Marathon  to Athens, who reported the victory. It became an Olympic event in 1896 and now there are many races held across the world, yearly. The total marathon is 26.219 miles and for more people to experience the running atmosphere, there is also a version of half that. Here in Lincoln, Ne that version of the fabled run is highly adapted.  Why are we all running though? Why do we all gather, wait in line, pay $60, dedicate almost our entire weekend, to run 13.1 miles? The common sense here escapes a logical man. If someone wants to go run 13.1 miles, or 15 miles, or the whole 26.2, then they are free to do so whenever they want, without paying and everything. In fact, with social media and Bluetooth devices hooking us up more than a cardiac patient at a hospital, we can even display our achievements to thousands of people online. Again, all logic point...

5409, 5410, 5411 Every step, closer to a higher number, however, further from who I want to be. A, "relapse" by every use of the in the word. In terms of poor, inefficient behaviors, I am revisiting them, reabsorbing them as my own. The numbers on an electronic, overpriced pedometer, counting steps have been around for a long time. Now, the fitness industry has made it even easier to identify success, if you have done enough or not. Little do the producers of such devices realize, people like me, our mind, is always counting. Our mind is always aware, unlike the electronic device in lieu of a traditional watch, nothing we do is passive.... 6302, 6303, 6304 I can't help but glance. I cannot help but be curious if the progress I feel I have made, determined by an intrinsic value, transfers to the outside world, in these numbers. Have I done more or less than I thought? Unfortunately, it is almost always less, for man does tend to over assume fitness activity and un...

"Well, he needs to do what is asked of him." "He needs to start talking about these things." "He needs to see his situation for what it is." "He cannot just sit there doing nothing." What is it that HE is trying to do? See, as humans we have this ability to communicate with one another, an ability that we take a little too far from time to time. Yes, we have lived a life of experience altering what we see as right and wrong, efficient or not, but it is not the life someone else lived, therefore doing what they need to do for them. I presented on people understanding context recently, for there I refer to the back story being a significant indicator of why or how people did whatever they did. Now however, I want to look at how people interact and try to alter, interfere, change for the better even, the lives of other. Whether you are a parent, a friend, a spouse, a family member, a complete stranger that simply notices the same poor be...

Me, me, me.... The guy hit the girl. She stole from him. The dog bit the boy. He wrote a self-indulgent blog post. All phrases, very true, very real, and whatever follows, deserves to happen. However, what if instead of just the punchline of the story is presented, we hear a little more about the beginning? What if instead we take into context the entirety of the situation prior to making any judgements on jumping to the end? For the first phrase, let us look at the entire dynamics of the relationship of the guy and girl. Do they argue a lot, are they in a relationship, do they know each other at all, what were they doing for this thing to happen? Looking not just in what the man did because that one seems to have presented itself already, but in what she did too. After all, though abuse happens both ways, there is typically some situation, some underlying thing that needs to be understood to get the entire picture. "Are you justifying abuse?" An emotionally-d...

One surprisingly-sunny, late-winter day, as my daughter was figuring out her footing on the edge of a sidewalk, down hill, my apprehensions laid in my will aiding her to stay upright. As she continued to place one awkward foot in front of the other, something shiny caught my eye. I looked past her as she stepped down to safety and made my approach, as though it was placed right here, for me. "Hey, what's this?" A rhetorical question, for as I made my approach and the dim silver shimmer informed me that is in fact currency, a significant currently at that. The mind's ability to determine things quickly, on display here as I discounted the possibility of a penny or nickel, even a quarter was too small, maybe a fifty-cent piece? No, not that either, for it was a little smaller than that. "Ah, it's a silver dollar!" I exclaim to my careless daughter and a wife who was too far ahead to take note of what she might have assumed another piece of garbage I...

The topic was open for discussion, I figured I would weigh in. I felt safe enough to present my case, what I had seen and what had rolled around in my head justifying my need to say something. W.-Why  A.-Am I.-I T.-Talking?  An acronym I had seen once on a business meeting room where "serious" meetings were held. I am a counselor, we have no need to, W.A.I.T. for we are in the business of talking, making inferences, spewing our selves and perceptions out to filter the chunks of verbal vomit. Here, in this lesser-sophisticated office setting there is currently a debate going on between a boss and her employee. Luckily, she does not see this difference in rank, she sees a person with a differing opinion, one that she doesn't agree with, yet one she will oblige. For that last part I am grateful, for we all want a stage some of the time. "Damnit Becky, why are you so stupid when things don't go your way..." "Look, I am just saying that wh...