Early Retirement for Injured Federal Employees
There is nothing more demoralizing than to “know” the certainty of defeat. But that is the crux of the matter, isn’t it? How does one “know”? Certainly, one can balance the odds for and against; to take into account the factors which determine a statistical chance of success or failure; but does one ever have “certainty” in anything, or is it often merely a perspective of the glass being half full, or half empty? […]
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? […]
One often encounters such discussions, about the difference between “wants” and “needs”. Needs are dictated by a loose definition of survival or existence — that which is required by or necessitated of the things which satisfy the criteria for continued existence or maintaining of a given modality of the status quo. The other — “wants” — are defined as those “extras” that are not required for existence, […]
We hear all the time about the shrinking world, the smaller universe, the global village – all metaphors to help and understand, to comprehend and be able to withstand within the insanity of a world that continues to intrude, intersect and impose itself upon every corner and aspect of lives lived and daily interrupted. It is a way for people to cope with the fact that we can no longer avoid the reality of those intersecting connections from worlds, […]
How many turns do we make on any given day? Not just actual ones, like those turns while driving a car, but figurative ones, as well. If a person approaches you and asks, “Did you make the right turn?” — what is the response? Is there a “right” answer? Is there a relationship in the English language between the terms “right”, “left” and the physical attributes we possess? […]
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. […]
They are the two default positions to happiness, loneliness and sorrowful days that can only be solved along with a cup of hot chocolate. What is amazing and somewhat perplexing is that, as to the former, the very fact that one species of life can have such a close and interacting relationship with another existent species is an incomprehensible truism steeped in beauty. […]
There is a reason why phoniness cannot survive or endure for long on a farm, as opposed to the urban decay of mass population centers; the animals won’t stand for it, and there is no one to be pretentious for, when hard work, sweat and toil replaces the incessant striving for acceptance, consumption and coercive condescensions. It is not an accident that Caulfield spends his time in the decay of urban life, amongst people who display a duality of faces and concealed motives, while all the time dreaming of an imaginary existence in a field of rye, catching all of the children who may run astray in the innocence of their blinded youth. […]
It is one thing to have a stock of memorized pieces or performances from which one can reach back and employ, like an inventory of dusty artifacts which can be brought out for display upon request; quite another, however, to reveal it, dust off the residue, begin to showcase it, then be interrupted and, without missing a beat, to ad lib above and beyond the prepared piece. The tape recorder (does anyone even remember what that contraption is or was, in this digital age?), the CD, the digital device; once set, it can only be altered by enforced remixing. […]
There is a natural proclivity by the previous generation to resist the transference of authority before its designated time; the conflict arises not as to the inevitability of such change, but rather as to the appropriate context, procedural mechanisms instituted, and the care and sensitivity manifested. And that is often the crux of the matter, is it not?
The brashness and lack of diplomacy and propriety; the insensitive nature of youth in trying to take over before paying one’s proper dues; […]