I read an article on sunk cost and
basically it said, “stop that.”
For
all of those pragmatic reasons to stop wasting our time doing the same old
thing and not liking it while hoping for different results I had to stop and
wonder why it is we do that. The cascade
of habit forming by cognitive miser minds sprang to life as I knew from studies
that we rely on habits as they serve our great need to keep focus on what is
important. Never mind most of the time
we can’t articulate what is important, because after all it depends on the
situation. Which brings me to the String
of Rainy Mondays; it’s more a holding spot for uninspired action then actuality
of every Monday being a rainy day.
Because rainy days, like Mondays are just milestones on a parade of
conditions we mark as significant progress towards a goal (even if ill defined…even
if heck not defined at all.)
We lost a
family friend the other day. She died in her sleep, the enviable end to a long
and distinguished life. What made her
turn merit the assessment of distinguished?
She traveled to her heart’s content; she raised a family of caring
children who in turn raised caring loving children. Her Husband is a good man
and she supported him with her love and skills for the better part of half a
century. For all of that praise, I didn’t talk to her in ten years. Growing up, our families were so close we
referred to her as Aunt. All of my
memories of boyhood mischief with my ‘cousins’ included her rounding us up and rebuking
our silliness. She was firm without
being mean. Another thing I recall was
she had the fastest wooden spoon around.
You just never saw it coming, even if you deserved double what you got whenever
she was prodded to strike. I discuss this topic on my Rainy Monday because even
if the relationship had waned, I’m who I am for her influence in the growing
years. “Yeah, but what can you do about
it?” Lots. In small, easy to digest
terms, her passing was another invitation like Tim McGraw’s song Live Like You Were Dying. It’s a quest
for us to get-clear-on-living well. And getting clear isn’t about suddenly
finding a purpose, or religion, or even being good for public sake. It’s more obvious yet elusive than spotting
ants on command. 
The mysteries of living are never solved, and that’s just fine
by me. But did you ever wonder where do birds and bugs go when it’s raining? I
never see them, not one. But to assume they disappeared would be a ridiculous solution
to the question. Just as we can be
brought up short of answering where did the years go? Pay attention to the here and now, and be
present to HEAR your now. Today, my
string of Rainy Monday’s was contrasted by an eternally sunny recollection of
my Aunt Mary.
She won’t be missed in the traditional sense, because you see,
she
lives in me every day I breathe deep.
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