Sunday Musings – August 4, 2019
“The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry” Every reader will recognize this reminder as a slice of reality which all of us have to confront on a daily basis. I always begin my day with a plan. More often than not I am not up for long before I have to adjust my plans to conform to my core values or to attend to some issues which affect my ability to keep my commitments to my core values. Someone will call, text, or email and need to talk. Some issue will arise with affects the functioning of my office or my ability to honor commitments at other locations. I will find out a loved one is sick or is experiencing some other life event and needs support. Sometimes the interruptions are not related to my core values but are something which is going to require my attention in the near future. I have to make a decision whether to honor the schedule or to be intentional about changing it. Today I had postponed writing early this morning so that I could do some minor outside home repairs before I stopped at the funeral home to pay my respects. When my Apple watch was not working I decided, after trying on line suggestions about how to restore its functioning , to make an appointment with the Apple Genius Bar. I thought I would drop off the watch at my scheduled appointment time and then write at Panera’s before going home. The watch issue was much more complicated and required over 2 hours of on-line chat to try to resolve the issues and then to resolve a dispute regarding the cost of repair. Then, just as I was about to write, I had a call from a friend who wanted to talk. Now at 4:30 l am sitting down to put the past week in perspective and to get mentally ready for the following week. Mentally I review a few of the issues which arose this week over which I had no control. Some of these issues involved the non-payment of significant outstanding bills owed to me. Some involved concerns about family and other loved one over whom I have no control. Some involved my needing to sit with people while they revisited situations I thought had been resolved. Some involved revisiting my belief in the fundamental goodness of us humans in face of local and national events involving killing, the plans to kill, and setting up the conditions for a potential military conflict. Of course being frequently reminded of the serenity prayer was helpful if not always immediately a source of strength. My ranting and raving has to run its course!
My list of core values is very short. In fact it could be generally summed up in one sentence, “Do my best to love all I encounter in person or through the magic of the internet and telephone service.” In fact that Jesus person said it best, “Love your neighbor as yourself. Love God.” If all of existence is interactional and, thus, interdependent then the whole of that process is perhaps what we mean by the term God. Thus, there is no distinction between loving self, loving other and loving all of existence(God). I cannot do one without affecting all.
When I keep it this simple it is easy to put the week just ending to rest. I am not the person I was prior to this week and I am not the person I hope to be tomorrow or even later today. I will do my best to walk the talk while being at peace with being the human that I am – a work in progress.
Written August 4, 2019
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
“The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry” Every reader will recognize this reminder as a slice of reality which all of us have to confront on a daily basis. I always begin my day with a plan. More often than not I am not up for long before I have to adjust my plans to conform to my core values or to attend to some issues which affect my ability to keep my commitments to my core values. Someone will call, text, or email and need to talk. Some issue will arise with affects the functioning of my office or my ability to honor commitments at other locations. I will find out a loved one is sick or is experiencing some other life event and needs support. Sometimes the interruptions are not related to my core values but are something which is going to require my attention in the near future. I have to make a decision whether to honor the schedule or to be intentional about changing it. Today I had postponed writing early this morning so that I could do some minor outside home repairs before I stopped at the funeral home to pay my respects. When my Apple watch was not working I decided, after trying on line suggestions about how to restore its functioning , to make an appointment with the Apple Genius Bar. I thought I would drop off the watch at my scheduled appointment time and then write at Panera’s before going home. The watch issue was much more complicated and required over 2 hours of on-line chat to try to resolve the issues and then to resolve a dispute regarding the cost of repair. Then, just as I was about to write, I had a call from a friend who wanted to talk. Now at 4:30 l am sitting down to put the past week in perspective and to get mentally ready for the following week. Mentally I review a few of the issues which arose this week over which I had no control. Some of these issues involved the non-payment of significant outstanding bills owed to me. Some involved concerns about family and other loved one over whom I have no control. Some involved my needing to sit with people while they revisited situations I thought had been resolved. Some involved revisiting my belief in the fundamental goodness of us humans in face of local and national events involving killing, the plans to kill, and setting up the conditions for a potential military conflict. Of course being frequently reminded of the serenity prayer was helpful if not always immediately a source of strength. My ranting and raving has to run its course!
My list of core values is very short. In fact it could be generally summed up in one sentence, “Do my best to love all I encounter in person or through the magic of the internet and telephone service.” In fact that Jesus person said it best, “Love your neighbor as yourself. Love God.” If all of existence is interactional and, thus, interdependent then the whole of that process is perhaps what we mean by the term God. Thus, there is no distinction between loving self, loving other and loving all of existence(God). I cannot do one without affecting all.
When I keep it this simple it is easy to put the week just ending to rest. I am not the person I was prior to this week and I am not the person I hope to be tomorrow or even later today. I will do my best to walk the talk while being at peace with being the human that I am – a work in progress.
Written August 4, 2019
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
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