Wanting Happiness

Last week I walked on a beach and watched the sun rise for three consecutive mornings.

This week a bureaucrat charged me a $10 late fee partially because a separate autonomous bureaucracy got bogged down and under-performed, but mostly because I overestimated the consistency of bureaucracy performance and I underestimated the ability of the bureaucrat to move beyond simple market transactions into the more complex realm of human transactions.

Last week a Boss threatened to fire "the whole damn crew."

This week a young woman stopped by a blood drive to sincerely thank the donors for her monthly blood transfusions.

This week I saw a television commercial that implied it is okay to NOT pay close attention when you are driving a motor vehicle.

This week I cooked and I ate well.

Last week I participated in a respectfully vigorous discussion on the topic: "If the wealthy deserve their wealth, then do the poor deserve their poverty?" And this ultimately included the sub-topic: "Which comes first? Wealth or power?"

This week I heard politicians call each other names.

This week I learned of an adversarial encounter that took place last week at the local University, while I was (irrelevantly) out of town. It was ignited by an inappropriate and divisive racial slur.

This week, (and last week), I shared company, conversation, and laughter.

This week we chose a restaurant where we received poor customer service and experienced long wait times; but we were not in a hurry, we were relaxed, and we did not complain. Nonetheless, one of the managers recognized the problems, visited our table, apologized, and said she intended to comp one of our meals. She must've gotten busy... I paid the full bill with a healthy tip, and we left satisfied, mainly because the food was hot and fresh.

This week I finished two books, continued on a third, and started two more.

This week I realized that I am not put in my place, but rather I am in my place and on occasion others clamber over me.

This week I found myself clambering over others.

This week I was chided for saying "I am doing good" instead of saying "I am doing well."

This week I read the Nietzsche quote, "He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how." This week I was privileged to read personal stories of Human interaction interpreted as "a why" despite, (and often as a result of), difficult circumstance.

This week I saw a player injured in a football game.

This week I (again) thought extensively about the difference between "long-term" in the context of my Lifetime, and "long-term" in the context of the entire history and future of Humanity.

This week I enjoyed music.

This week I got honked at and shouted at while crossing at a crosswalk. And, in a separate occurrence, I was given the right-of-way and given a friendly wave while crossing at a crosswalk.

This week I saw someone smoking a cigarette while riding a bicycle.

This week I saw a breakdown in communication that could have been avoided with better planning and follow-up. This strategic snafu impacted a day-long event that in turn had the potential to impact the direction of multiple young lives.

This week, (and last week), I enjoyed solitude.

This week I overheard a craftsman explain his craft with an unassuming confidence and a quiet satisfaction.

Last week I played in the sand with my granddaughter.

This week I reaffirmed that Life here is better than not.

This week I read a claim that for the first time in the history of Humankind we are potentially positioned to engineer our own destiny; that is, the destiny of the whole of Humanity.

To do so responsibly, the claimant, (Yuval Noah Harari, author of "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind"), says that we must ask the question:

"What do we want to become?"

Or, more to the point:

"What do we want to want?"

And he goes on to say:

"Those who are not spooked by this question probably haven't given it enough thought."

Then he asks one final question:

"Is there anything more dangerous than dissatisfied and irresponsible gods who don't know what they want?"

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