Early Retirement for Injured Federal Employees
We observe the facade and conclude too quickly: Others live perfect lives; mine? What a mess it is. Have we evaluated all circumstances in an objective, rational fashion? Isn’t the corollary and natural next question to be: That “other” person — what does he or she see when observing me? Does the same conclusion follow: The facade which reveals calm and competence — It is a life nearer to perfection than my own; mine? […]
Are the two identified only by comparative existence? Can one abide in pure mediocrity throughout a lifetime, only to be fooled into thinking that excellence has been achieved, but on the day before extinguishment from this universe, be visited by pure excellence that suddenly compels one to realize that all along, only a ho-hum level of mediocrity had been attained? Conversely, can one maintain a level of excellence without a comparative standard against which one may know what “mediocrity” consists of? […]
What would be the difference if, in the title of Willa Cather’s novel, “Death Comes for the Archbishop”, she had instead chosen to use the word “to” in replacement of “for”? Would empires have fallen, world wars have been averted or earthquakes and other natural disasters have been delayed? Likely, not; but would the countless minds that have encountered the novel, enjoyed its beautiful prose and admired its humanity […]
It may give one a sense of short-term satisfaction; sort of like Chinese carry-out, it satisfies for an hour or so, then seems to lose its efficacy for fulfillment. Whereas, there are other foods that tend to last for greater time; and so it is with receiving news or information of other’s misery. It certainly allows for a comparison of sorts; of tilting balances imagined, or even for contrasting accomplishments forsaken, dreams yet unfulfilled or misery unabated. […]
There is clearly a distinction to be made between the general fatigue which life blows upon us all; like the child left to play outside in days of yore, and comes back with the grime of healthy dirtiness, the imperceptible layers of life’s hardships cover everyone, like the light dusting of snow overnight revealed in the morning dawn of a winter’s day. But the profound fatigue which overtakes one from the daily battle against an incapacitating medical condition, is a difference which cannot always be adequately described, if ever. […]
A determination concerning the random nature of a material and unconscious universe can only come about in contrast to a recognition that there is a comparison to be made, to its opposite corollary — that of a teleological state where will, consciousness and deliberation of action occurs. Thus, one can bemoan the random happenstance of events, but to complain of an inherent “unfairness” becomes a self-contradiction, precisely because to do so is to declare otherwise than to acknowledge its aimless appearance and entrance into the consciousness before one who recognizes the arbitrary realm […]
Pithy quotes are replete throughout advisory or “self-help” books; it is a cottage industry involving coming up with linguistically sticky statements, like post-its tacked on to our sleeves in order to remind us of daily living tools to carry. “Keeping the main thing the main thing” is one such quote, and numerous similar mutations, which remind us that prioritization of concepts, […]