I made a huge mistake yesterday. I was writing about Alzheimer's disease and memory loss and I forgot some key wording. How appropriate. Here are two paragraphs as originally posted.
According to a report on 60 Minutes exercise, coffee and a few drinks every day help increase longevity. On the other hand the report said the chance of developing Alzheimer's disease increases significantly as we age. The report said it doubles every five years between age 65 and 90.
Now I try to exercise each day and I do drink coffee but I need to find out if it simply doubles every five years or it's actually 2-5th power before I decide to start drinking wine.
And the correction:
According to a report on 60 Minutes exercise, coffee and a few drinks every day help increase longevity. On the other hand the report said the chance of developing Alzheimer's disease increases significantly as we age. The report said it doubles every five years between age 65 and 90.
Now I try to exercise each day and I do drink coffee but I need to find out if Alzheimer's chances simply doubles every five years or it's actually 2-5th power before I decide to start drinking wine. I don't want to live into my 90's if I can't remember what I had for breakfast.
I feel so much better now.
At one time I had an editor but Wanda resigned. I wasn't paying her enough. I have 727 blog entries. I wonder how many other errors have slipped through. I know I should check and organize them but like most of my life endeavors I probably won't. I have enough incomplete or never begun projects to fill a warehouse.
I'm quite skilled at finding reasons for putting things off.
In a favorite film of mine a mother takes her young son to the family doctor.
Doctor: Why are you depressed, Alvy?
Alvy's Mom: Tell Dr. Flicker.
[Young Alvy sits, his head down - his mother answers for him]
Mom: It's something he read.
Doctor: Something he read, huh?
Alvy: The universe is expanding.
Doctor: The universe is expanding?
Alvy: Well, the universe is everything, and if it's expanding, someday it will break apart and that would be the end of everything!
Mom: What is that your business?
Mom: to doctor...He stopped doing his homework!
Alvy: What's the point?
Mom: What has the universe got to do with it? You're here in New York. New York is not expanding!
Doctor: It won't be expanding for billions of years yet. And we've gotta try to enjoy ourselves while we're here.
I've always agreed with young Alvie. I knew no matter what I did the outcome would be the same. There was really no point in 'doing my homework.' I couldn't rationalize expending extra effort on things that didn't (or wouldn't) make a difference. I was OK as long as I had the basic necessities. More money, a bigger house or a fancy car would not make me a better person.
I'd tell myself I was pragmatic, a realist. I am a good person, concerned with the well being of others. I know the way we treat ourselves and our fellow man is of utmost importance in the grand scheme of things. The trappings of wealth, unless used to better society is of no importance.
That's what I thought. That's what I told myself. I was enlightened, down to earth. I lived life well. I tried to enjoy myself while I was here. I thought I had my priorities in order.
Now I discover I'm a procrastinator and lazy to boot.
Procrastinate: to be slow or late about doing something that needs to be done: to delay doing something until a later time because you do not want to do it, because you are lazy, etc.
And now that I know I've been handing myself a load of bullshit all these years, rather than do something about it my first thoughts are, why bother. You can't teach an old dog new tricks and a leopard can't change his spots.
So it's pretty clear I'm not about to begin any long term and potential life changing projects. I'm not going to take guitar lessons or devote time to learn Spanish the Rosetta Stone way. I'm not going back to school for an advanced degree. And I'm certainly not about to embark on a new vocation and become a master chef.
Although I have been encouraged to do so I'm probably not going to organize and edit my best blog entries into a book of some sort. I defeat myself before I begin, why bother? Like Alvy I say, "What's the point?"
But, when all is said and done I don't think of myself as a lazy procrastinator but someone afraid of criticism and failure. That's why I've never put the blog (or myself) out there on the chopping block.
I have several projects around the house that need attention. I need to forget about the expanding universe and focus on them.
The back bathroom and new bedroom wall need paint. The living room does too. The windows and screens need a spring cleaning and I should finally replace the two ceiling fans. Wanda has been asking me to organize our thousands of baseball cards for several years. It is a daunting project for sure, but one that needs to be done. I'll get around to all of these in due time.
Well, now that I've come to these potential but ultimately ineffectual understandings, I suppose I should take out the trash. How sad it is. The greatest accomplishment of the week is taking the totes out Tuesday and bringing them in Wednesday.
So, if you will excuse me.....I need to get to work.
No comments:
Post a Comment