Work, life and things in between – Day 39 – Going nowhere!
I am back in Vancouver and as always, I take in the city, its beauty, the enjoyment of being by the water; all of this is rocking my soul.
Being relaxed, comfortable, master of your own time and destiny all have a really nice ring to it. However, where the tune goes a little bit out of key is when you try to reconcile what you do with a purpose. You know! This relentless thirst us Humans have to “be meaningful”…there has to be a purpose to it all….we should feel inspired, elevated, contributing to making the world a better place…I wonder.. is this built into our DNA as Humans or is this what our Mom and Dad taught us? or had I paid better attention to these long drawn out sermons all these Sunday mornings of my youth sitting in the pew, maybe I would know what to make of this…
Like I said, this is all nice and swell when you are on vacation, but feels quite different on a Friday afternoon when you know the week-end will be no different than the week.
Last night I attended a function at the Museum of Anthropology. Besides the interest of the museum itself, I met this most interesting man; PhD in physics, European background who spent most of his working career in the States, recently married and father of 2 young children, passionate about a myriad of things, not the least of which being environment and education. We thoroughly enjoyed our conversation.
Suddenly, I realize how I miss having such lively and challenging encounters. I don’t have enough of that. Maybe I should sit on boards, volunteer at some think tanks, go back to school, write a sequel to War and Peace…I need to embark on something big! cruising along has never been my pace..If comfort was linear then my preferred zone would be just short of the edge..!
Why is it that I always feel like I should do something different or something more than what I am doing at the moment? Is this everyone’s lot? Or is this part of my ADD brain?
Actually, I know that being meaningful is paramount to Humans, and I would add that I have contributed my fair share of “meaningfulness” to this world already…more to come of course, but that is not where the bone is…Meaningful AND exciting is the issue!
Meaningful when you come home exhausted (assuming you make it home…many of us only make it to The Marriott!) and have no energy to step on that treadmill and have not sat down with your loved ones for a decent meal in days is not so gratifying! Moreover, when the thought of tomorrow drains whatever energy you have left in your brain and your body, you know there is something wrong!
I guess knowing that something is wrong is the first step. Not very satisfying though. Still feels like it is going nowhere. Luckily, I am a relentless optimist. Tomorrow will be better.I am back in Vancouver and as always, I take in the city, its beauty, the enjoyment of being by the water; all of this is rocking my soul.
Being relaxed, comfortable, master of your own time and destiny all have a really nice ring to it. However, where the tune goes a little bit out of key is when you try to reconcile what you do with a purpose. You know! This relentless thirst us Humans have to “be meaningful”…there has to be a purpose to it all….we should feel inspired, elevated, contributing to making the world a better place…I wonder.. is this built into our DNA as Humans or is this what our Mom and Dad taught us? or had I paid better attention to these long drawn out sermons all these Sunday mornings of my youth sitting in the pew, maybe I would know that this is where it comes from…
Like I said, this is all nice and swell when you are on vacation, but feels quite different on a Friday afternoon when you know the week-end will be no different than the week..
Last night I attended a function at the Museum of Anthropology. Besides the interest of the museum itself, I met this most interesting man; PhD in physics, European background who spent most of his working career in the States, recently married and father of 2 young children, passionate about a myriad of things, not the least of which being environment and education. We thoroughly enjoyed our conversation.
Suddenly, I realize how I miss having such lively and challenging encounters. I don’t have enough of that. Maybe I should sit on boards, volunteer at some think tanks, go back to school, write a sequel to War and Peace…I need to embark on something big! cruising along has never been my pace..If comfort was linear then my preferred zone would be just short of the edge..!
Why is it that I always feel like I should do something different or something more than what I am doing at the moment? Is this everyone’s lot? Or is this part of my ADD brain?
Actually, I am not being honest here…I know that being meaningful is paramount to Humans, and I would add that I have contributed my fair share of “meaningfulness” to this world already…more to come of course, but that is not where the bone is…Meaningful AND exciting is the issue!
Meaningful when you come home exhausted (assuming you make it home…many of us only make it to The Marriott!) and have no energy to step on that treadmill and have not sat down with your loved ones for a decent meal in days is not so gratifying! Moreover, when the thought of tomorrow drains whatever energy you have left in your brain and your body, you know there is something wrong!
I guess knowing that something is wrong is the first step. Not very satisfying though. Still feels like it is going nowhere. Luckily, I am a relentless optimist. Tomorrow will be better.