Faith Venture

I don’t know all of my weaknesses. But I know some important ones.

I can easily be addicted to computer games. I had a little handheld football game in the late 1970s. I was on that a lot. Gloria Mark in her recently released book Attention Span says that can be a good way to relieve cognitive stress. But, games have become so immersive that I’ve avoided them for many years.

My emotions are easily aroused. I’ve learned (mostly) not to reply to lies spreading around social media. But awareness tells me to severely limit my exposure. My mental health and stability have been greatly improved.

I am aware of the state of mind of people around me. I learned that at a very early age thanks to an emotionally unstable home life. That’s often a good thing. I can respond appropriately. On the other hand, sometimes I can misinterpret (see above about emotions).

Developing awareness has improved my life a bit at a time. I’m aware when I’m with God and when we’re apart. I’m aware when I’ve become too withdrawn and need to interact with others.

Awareness is a beautiful thing. It helps me live a better life and probably makes things better for those around me.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb wrote a series of books on preparing to survive random events. The book is part philosophy of life and part investing in the markets. I’m rereading Fooled by Randomness: The hidden role of chance in Life and in the Markets.

Reflecting on the book, I thought of all the random events in my life.

• I entered graduate school thinking about getting a PhD in political philosophy. The faculty voted half-way through my first semester to close the graduate program.
• I wandered into a job in the recreation vehicle industry. Then came the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973 and then hyper inflation.
• I landed a good engineering position, then a random article in Consumer Reports (I’ve never read a thing in that publication since) tanked our market.
• I answered a random ad in a trade magazine and wound up in a new career, which led to a second position and then a good life working for myself. But the random events along the way prepared me to make the best of new random events.

Perhaps you can think of random events from near and far that changed everything. But your preparations could make all the difference.

We purchased a coffee mug when we visited the Will Rogers estate a couple of years ago. It says, “Live your life so that whenever you los, you are ahead.”

Here are a few suggestions:

• Learn something from each event
• Limit financial risk to what you can afford to lose
• Develop spiritual practices that give solid inner strength

“To do the useful thing, to say the courageous thing, to contemplate the beautiful thing: that is enough for one man’s life.”​― T.S. Eliot

My favorite poet. Deeply contemplative and exceptionally observant, but unfortunately too literary.

Let us contemplate.

Benjamin Franklin every night asked of himself, what good have I done today. Every morning begins a period of time where we are presented with an opportunity to serve. Have we responded correctly?

Maybe not every day, but too often, someone misstates something about another person or group of people. Do we tacitly nod as if in agreement? Do we gently respond with corrective information? How often do we say the healing word for the moment?

When walking in nature, do we pause to look at the miracle of a leaf? Or of a different bug or bird or critter? Or visit an art museum and pause to contemplate a beautiful piece of art? Or the beauty of the moment observing mother and child or adult child with elderly parent?

There is a word. Awareness. Do we go through the day mired deep into our own thoughts and miseries? Or, we are aware of the world around and our place in it?

I pray for awareness.