Happiness, Early in the Morning.

It has been a little over a week since I started my search for happiness. I have made some progress, and ran into some obstacles, but things seem to be improving, I think. One thing is certain. It is possible to be happier just by trying to be happy. A rule that seems so ridiculously easy it can’t be true. But, I think it is.

Conversely, it seems if you think things are going to go poorly they probably will. Which spells trouble for me, I’ve always assumed things were going to fall completely to pieces, “Every new message brings an evil report of armies on the march and time running short,”¹ which always provided a certain amount of relief when things only went poorly, and if things went well it was almost ecstasy. So, I still wrestle with the inevitability of assuming a day, say Monday for example, is going to be a good day, and then having it blow up in my face. What are the odds of that, though?

My life is routine, my job is uneventful, most days my job wouldn’t even notice if I weren’t there, I have trained my job to do itself, I am in fairly good health, there is not much that can go wrong. My life isn’t foolproof, but it is almost on autopilot. My wife takes care of all the finances and most of the decision making. When things go wrong she fixes them, I am just along for the ride. I am the boy in the bubble, or the old man in the full life body cast, you choose.

So, happiness should easy for me. And really it is. I am pretty happy, I am just happy in my own way. There is no need to make a big, flashy display of happiness, flaunting it in the face of all the miserable people who haven’t figured out how to escape without leaving. Poor souls stuck in the present, mired in the day to day struggles of making ends meet, lost in the salt mines of living day to day. People whose lives are bogged down in balancing check books, planning meals, making payments, all the detritus of living in the 21st century.

Maybe I should start giving lessons.

Welcome to the New Life Explained School of Happiness. Tuition is voluntary. We have a lot to cover, so hold on tight. First I am going to get some coffee.

Today’s song of happiness is from an unusual source, Dr. John. Don’t forget to vote in the upcoming poll on Life Explained, the Facebook Page.

1. Caribbean Wind, by Bob Dylan

Lessons from the gym, a list.

Here are some observations made from repeated trips to the gym.

1.  People with faulty memory diodes should use a notebook to keep track of weights and repetitions.  Reality sends constant reminders; I am a "big picture" person, who has little time or patience for petty little details (like the names of my co-workers, they are all Bob, to me).  When sitting down on the resistance training machine I am at a complete loss for where I should put the little pin, locking the weights into place.

There is a conversation raging in my head "it was at 80 yesterday, we should stay there for a while and just increase the reps."  The more reasonable side will say.  

"No, 80 is for wimps, we were at 100, at least, and we should go for 120 today.  You wouldn't like that though, you are too lazy to even say the whole word 'repetitions.'"  The less reasonable side will reply. 

Pretty soon it gets heated and I have to step in and say, "why don't we use 90 pounds, and do as many repetitions as possible."  But, they are no longer talking to each other, or me, so that is what we do.  A record of previous workouts would save a lot of aggravation, and we could go back to arguing about important things, like which podcast should be  next.

2.  Even though my elbow feels like it is on fire, it isn't.  I looked, and it seems fine.  Which indicates something is wrong inside.  Not being a doctor limits the scope of the diagnosis, but it is probably something in the joint, or the muscle, or the attaching ligaments, or tendons.  I think.

This injury has reared its ugly head before.  One time it got so bad I even took it to the doctor.  He looked it over and said it was not an uncommon problem among aging men.  And, they could repair it, by cutting open the elbow, and grinding down the canal on the bone, where the nerve, or something ran.  I don't really remember what it was, because at surgery I started getting a little shaky, warm, and lightheaded.  When he started to talk about using a grinder on my bone the room started spinning.  I don't remember too much after that.  But, my elbow felt a lot better, as I sprinted from the office, yelling my thanks at the doctors, nurses, reception personnel, and patients.

3.  Exercising has a lot of benefits.  Yes, there is the long term health improvement, which is why I started.  But, there is an immediate boost, I feel better.  Moreover, I feel better about myself.  Feeling better about myself has made me look for other ways to improve, and there is a vegetable in my lunch everyday, and a glass or two of water in place of a carbonated, sugary soft drink.    

Exercising is not the chore I feared it would be, today is my day off from the gym, so I have time to work out the best way to track my efforts, maybe Wunderlist, or Allthings, it has to be something that will allow the use of photos, or pictures of some kind.  Adding some art makes it more fun, and hey entertainment is cool.  If you have any suggestions for an iOS app that will work let me know, please.  

Remember to exercise, you won't regret it.

Saving the world one language at a time

This post is going to be a little unusual, a little more serious.  Recently, a friend moved to Germany, I am not sure why, but she was living in Scotland, originally from the American South, and somehow she ended up, by choice, in Germany.  People can be so unpredictable.   But, that is not what this is about, anyway.  What this is about is hope, possibilities, and a chance for the future.

While still a child I remember reading, with horror, the eye witness accounts of the genocide in Cambodia.  Today, we are inundated with reporting of the brutality of African warlords and their child armies.  And, I have been taught enough history to know that this is not abnormal.  Pick almost any era and there was more than enough savagery to go around.  It was business as usual, the march of progress, those who could, did, without reservation, to those powerless to stop them.  It seems that humankind is hell bent on self immolation, and all that is lacking is the means, and that is not really lacking, it is only limited, temporarily to the biggest of the the lunatics in charge of the asylum.  Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether* with nuclear weaponry.

What does this have to do with an American\Scottish expatriate living in Germany?   Probably not too much, but, maybe it should.

She talks often about going places with her "friends."  When asked where she had made all of these friends in such a short time.  she explained that mostly, they are from a German class she is taking.  Her friends come from all over the world.  And they get along famously, having fun, sharing, enjoying each other.  They have barbecues, and go to festivals, and since they are in Germany sometimes they have beer and bratwurst together.

Here is a group of individuals, from different parts of the world, whose only connection seems to be wanting to learn German, and, live in Germany (none of them probably moved there just to learn German).  Somehow, they have formed the bonds of friendships, bonds of community and mutual respect.  And, they seem to have fun together, and though they drift in and out of each others lives they are replaced by fresh, new faces, and still remembered fondly, and that seems amazing.

If it is possible for this microcosm of society to pull off such a feat of friendship why can't the larger world, and those entrusted with its care?  Why do we have to spend so much time thinking about, and emphasizing our differences?  Why can't we all "try to learn German together"?

Would that be too much to ask of the people in charge, "the suits running the store"?  It has benefited my friend, and her friends, wouldn't we all benefit from something like that?  I know, it is silly to try to change the world, a single person can accomplish nothing.  But, what if we start a movement, the "Life Explained Learning German Movement."

Maybe that is where we should start, maybe language is the key.  If we all try to learn together we can come to understand that there is not that much separating us.   Maybe I'm a dreamer, a hopeless idealist, but we should try to think up something, (I'm open to suggestions) as the man said "we can all sink, or we can all float, because we're all in the same big boat."**

*"The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether."  Edgar Allen Poe
** "One World."  Written by Sting.