tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13612702.post2204696774674409076..comments2023-04-13T02:28:40.733-07:00Comments on mcgeary: New Year's ResolutionsKevinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211722054483452954noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13612702.post-25163440070206334722009-01-09T01:28:00.000-08:002009-01-09T01:28:00.000-08:00Boy, after reading this, I'm sure I thought of #1 ...Boy, after reading this, I'm sure I thought of #1 at least two or three times today after certain events transpired (or were about to). Hard to draw the boundaries for me. I really like seeing people pleased and like to think I can get on with many different people, but there's always that "WTF" point, isn't there?<BR/><BR/>As far as #6 goes, interestingly enough, I've seen several people write that one down now for whatever reason, though I think yours captures a but more of the subtleties. In the balance of ego, I have always found the following quote by Epictetus very instructive: "Ignorant people blame others for their own misfortunes; those people partially wise learn to blame themselves; the truly wise need not blame either themselves or others."<BR/>(2nd case of thinking of #1 was when I commented on the LJ of a long-absent former-school-mate with that quote in response to very much the same thing you write of, and received a surprisingly flippant "Don't think this advice necessarily applies to me, I don't think you really know me as well as you think you do.")<BR/><BR/>Contrary to your statement, "Most of what you do is a matter of chance," she offered a quote by Laozi that spoke about destiny, and then countered that it was purely about cause and effect.<BR/>Hm. I guess there was a time in my life when the chain between intentions and outcomes seemed clear, but nowadays it seems hard to find it anything other than pretty murky.<BR/><BR/>Case in point, my only resolution is to make more meaningful connections with others in the area. This is really like a non-resolution since, as much as I would like to believe there is a definite method to discovering such people, my life experience has proven such a pursuit to be a random crapshoot totally outside my expectations. The main lesson I've gotten from that is to lower one's expectations of others and don't anticipate. When you anticipate, you kill worlds of possibility, trying to grasp something that hasn't yet materialized, and may turn into something else completely based on the direction your mind is (or isn't) going in.<BR/><BR/>That and watch more things with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in it. Just saw Shaun of the Dead last week--brilliant!Nick Hermanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01543497413262895759noreply@blogger.com