When I was about ten years old I read the book, "Cheaper By the Dozen". The father of the family was an efficiency expert, and I worked at learning to live more efficiently (and thus, I thought, more effectively). I still try to combine things in order to "save time".
I have dipped into the Odd Thomas series by Dean Koontz in the past few months, and always find things to think about. In contrast to the efficiency expert, Odd comes up with this musing:
“Waiting is one of the things that human beings cannot do well, though it is one of the essential things we must do successfully if we are to know happiness. We are impatient for the future and try to craft if with our own powers, but the future will come as it comes and will not be hurried. If we are good at waiting, we discover that what we wanted of the future, in our impatience, is no longer what we want, that waiting has brought wisdom.
Dean Koontz, “Odd Interlude”, page 53 in paperback edition.
I confess -- I don't much like waiting. I take a book (or Kindle) to places where I might have to wait. I organize my life to live, not to wait. But Koontz, through the character of Odd Thomas, has me thinking that waiting is OK. Necessary. Being in too much of a hurry could really screw things up.
What do you think about the value of waiting? Leave a comment and let us know.
Al Lustie
Thinking with Al
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
More From the Book
As I reflect on the book, "Team of Rivals", mentioned in an earlier post, I am amazed that even with the War between the States consuming vast resources, President Lincoln, his cabinet and the Congress managed to do so many other things.
They funded land-grant colleges, bringing the possibility of higher education to more and more people. The introduced the income tax, a far more equitable method of raising funds for the governemnt "of the people", and not just "of the property owners". They partied. Wow! The social whirl of Washington, D.C., almost never let up.
They restored and added to the capital building. They managed waterways and railways and extended the telegraph lines of communication. In other words, they kept growing the nation!
Lincoln was largely able to do this because he chose to work with others, to think, to embrace compassion and to listen to the real nation-builders. The real nation-builders were the workers, the businessmen, but farmers, and generally what we know to be "the ordinary folks".
Fast forward to 2014. We have a Congress who contains members who delight when they thwart nation building, and rejoice when nothing gets done. It makes me want to elect doers and not whiners, but then that's just me.
What do you think? Leave a comment and let us know.
They funded land-grant colleges, bringing the possibility of higher education to more and more people. The introduced the income tax, a far more equitable method of raising funds for the governemnt "of the people", and not just "of the property owners". They partied. Wow! The social whirl of Washington, D.C., almost never let up.
They restored and added to the capital building. They managed waterways and railways and extended the telegraph lines of communication. In other words, they kept growing the nation!
Lincoln was largely able to do this because he chose to work with others, to think, to embrace compassion and to listen to the real nation-builders. The real nation-builders were the workers, the businessmen, but farmers, and generally what we know to be "the ordinary folks".
Fast forward to 2014. We have a Congress who contains members who delight when they thwart nation building, and rejoice when nothing gets done. It makes me want to elect doers and not whiners, but then that's just me.
What do you think? Leave a comment and let us know.
I Just Want It To Work
One of the things I enjoy the most is helping people become more effective with their technology. I am called "The PC Guy" in my area, and part of what I do is help people remember what they used to know, or add to their mental toolbox so they can enjoy their PC, Mac, iPad or iPhone better. Even Android phones although I don't own one.
I am naive. I assume that because I love to learn new things other people enjoy learning as much. They don't, in many cases.
"I just want it to work," is a wail I often hear.
"OK", I say, "but if you do this it will work. If you don't, it won't work."
As I think about thinking I am learning to know that most people "just want it to work". They don't want to know how to fix a flat tire, or create a screen shot to copy into an email, or turn their iPad to airplane mode. And I wonder . . .
I know I have to change my expectations. I also know people who don't want to learn are missing a lot. Not just what they might have learned, but they are missing the joys of growth.
What do you think? Leave a comment and let us know.
I am naive. I assume that because I love to learn new things other people enjoy learning as much. They don't, in many cases.
"I just want it to work," is a wail I often hear.
"OK", I say, "but if you do this it will work. If you don't, it won't work."
As I think about thinking I am learning to know that most people "just want it to work". They don't want to know how to fix a flat tire, or create a screen shot to copy into an email, or turn their iPad to airplane mode. And I wonder . . .
I know I have to change my expectations. I also know people who don't want to learn are missing a lot. Not just what they might have learned, but they are missing the joys of growth.
What do you think? Leave a comment and let us know.
Saturday, January 11, 2014
A Recent Read
We were gone for awhile, but did not leave books behind. My wife used her Kindle app, and I used the Kindle Paperwhile my daughter gave me for my birthday. What a nice, light way to travel with lots of books!
But I didn't read lots of book. I read most of one, and it is a book I heartily recumbent. "Team of Rivals" by Doris Kearns Goodwin approaches the life of Lincoln, especially leading up to and during his Presidency by looking not only at him and his family, but the men and their families he appointed to be his Cabinet. They held widely different views on slavery, several wanted to be president (and therefore did not want Lincoln to be president, and at least one worked actively to subvert Lincoln before, during and after his term of office. All were fundamentally, however, determined to hold the Union together, and all were able to work for the good of the American possibility.
Well. I am not going to provide a book report. I do recommend this book for a useful read that will keep you wanting "just one more chapter".
"Team of Rivals" can be purchased many place. I am linking to Amazon.com for your convenience. A Nook or a Kindle (I have both) are also wonderful.
Have you read it? What were your thoughts? Leave a comment and let us know.
But I didn't read lots of book. I read most of one, and it is a book I heartily recumbent. "Team of Rivals" by Doris Kearns Goodwin approaches the life of Lincoln, especially leading up to and during his Presidency by looking not only at him and his family, but the men and their families he appointed to be his Cabinet. They held widely different views on slavery, several wanted to be president (and therefore did not want Lincoln to be president, and at least one worked actively to subvert Lincoln before, during and after his term of office. All were fundamentally, however, determined to hold the Union together, and all were able to work for the good of the American possibility.
Well. I am not going to provide a book report. I do recommend this book for a useful read that will keep you wanting "just one more chapter".
"Team of Rivals" can be purchased many place. I am linking to Amazon.com for your convenience. A Nook or a Kindle (I have both) are also wonderful.
Have you read it? What were your thoughts? Leave a comment and let us know.
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