Patience is being patient with your patience.
- Idries Shah
Patience is the opposite of aggression. I think you have to work at it though, talk yourself into patience and as well as through it and expect it to be like a squirmy toddler that needs lots of repetition and kindness .
Words have to die if humans are to live.
….always seek balance between rejection and faith.
There may be many layers of meaning to this quote, which I picked up from Idries Shah, but I think it has application to the dangers of being too literal, on the left – with political correctness, and on the right, with religious fundamentalism. And if you think about how these two extremes interacted at Fort Hood last week, maybe it doesn’t seem like just a bunch of philosophical mumbo jumbo.
Why did we fail to catch onto the threat of Hasan? Sen. Lieberman will convene the Homeland Security Committee and try to answer that question. There has been a lot of debate since 911 over how much effort ought to put into preventing this sort of thing. That’s fine, but at the end of the day, our leaders cannot seem ambivalent to their soldiers and federal agents about the need to always err on the side of caution and apologize for the inconvenience later. From the WSJ:
The most-heard reason for the possible failure is political correctness. No doubt. But Sen. Lieberman’s committee should avoid making this its main line of inquiry, because that is a problem without a policy fix. It minimizes the real problem.
The problem is confusion. The combatants at each end of the spectrum in the war over the war on terror know exactly what they think about surveilling suspected terrorists. But if you are an intel officer or FBI agent tasked with providing the protection, what are you supposed to make of all this bitter public argument? What you make of it is that when you get a judgment call, like Maj. Hasan, you hesitate. You blink.
In war, uncertainy gets you killed.
People died so we can be safe and free. Just sit for a minute and contemplate that…..starting now………. Don’t put it off. You have a minute – 60 seconds.
Did you do it? I did. It helped me to focus by thinking about how much it hurt to have people i have loved die, never mind killed. It also helped me to be concrete about what it means to be safe and free. I have these people to thank for the comfortable life I live. It also helped me to focus by holding my breath for 60 seconds. It starts to hurt and in spite of myself I get panicy once I start going past 60 seconds.
Call me crazy …but I just don’t want the meaning of Veteran’s Day to be a fucking abstraction.
This is a prayer written by the Persian Sufi – Saadi.
Do to me what is worthy of Thee.
Not that which is worthy of me.
Three things enable me to overcome my opponent. I am happy when he is right, and I sad when he is wrong, and I try not to behave foolishly toward him.
Hatim
I kept asking Josie how old she was today, and she kept answering, “my name is Josie, what’s your name?”. She likes to hear me say, “my name is Wim.” So after doing that for awhile, I asked her if she was ‘3′, and she said, ‘yes, I’m fwee’. Her mom made cupcakes and she’ll have those when her Mom comes into school later today. She has her big party at the Kent Cty YMCA party room with family and friends on the Saturday.
She got a little crown too wear at school as the bday girl and loved it. She asked me if she could take it home. It is pretty nice so I don’t think so. Maybe I can try and find one on the way home from work to wear at her little family party tonight with GIGI and GEGE and Mom and Dad.
Happy bday in Mandarin :
Shengri Kuaile!
There are four things.
Accept the ignorance of others and spare them yours; spare for them from your substance, and do not expect any of theirs.
Hatim
Josie is transitioning to her preschool class now that she is turning 3. She is having some trouble and has been fussy, waking some at night. It is a better fit for her though. She is smiling when Reena picks her up. Her birthday is tomorrow!
Xavier is a boy scout and I helped him do his food drive Saturday. We picked up food in two neighborhoods, one poorer than the other. Interestingly, about the same percentage of people give from the poor neighborhood as the richer one. Generosity seems not to be a function of what you have. hmmmmmm.
The kids soccer is over and though I won’t miss running them around, I do like to see them on the weekends they are with their mother. I guess I’ll be doing more phone calls. I do want to get Gabrielle involved in something she will like. She’s been talking about volunteering.
The kids are getting their H1N1 vaccination at school tomorrow. Josie had her 1st mist a few weeks ago.
I am playing on a men’s basketball team at the YMCA and we are 4-1. We are an old group compared to most of the teams we play, but we have very competitive guys and even though we are sucking wind no one beats us by out-hustling us. I got a technical foul two games ago for being a wise ass. I had to pay a $10 fine – 42 year old man acting like I’m 14.
I did this 15 minutes of hell workout for the first time this morning that I ordered on DVD. I feel tired this morning in a good way. I definitely can’t keep up with the guy. It has Japanese origins though the guy is from southern New England. www.closecombattraining.com I plan to do it daily except for ‘game day’.
Reena has been busy completing Clara Rose’s quilt and a panda blanket to match her sister’s. We still expect to travel sometime in December but are not sure if we are going to go before or after Christmas. I am still trying to learn some Chinese daily. Going to China is a motivator.
Did I say Reena is a great Mommy? I know I seem like a kiss ass, but she really is… she’s one of those fun moms. She loves to dance to this wiggly song tape with Josie, and Josie loves it.
If you think that you
are not self-deluded,
just check whether you
think well of yourself or
not.
The Bedouin Teacher
