Monday, March 05, 2007

Not "Stuck" --- Evaluating available options

While we are on the edge of our seats waiting for the Libby verdicts, we observe that the jury seems to be held up on some issues. What is reasonable doubt? Must the government prove it was not "humanly possible" for Libby to forget? [Answer----arrrgh/RTFM]

We all encouter obstacles in our daily lives. This afternoon a tree fell across my driveway, blocking any further progress. This morning, a metaphorical tree fell across my progress with the Russian hospital work. It's been quite the time of surprise and anger, followed by cursing and general anxiety and depression. The usual meltdown. This is part of my job description I guess.

No wonder we can't find a successor. No one in their right mind would do this work, and mentally ill people do not customarily make it thru 8 years of college and go work in another country.

This was not a good day to have computer troubles thrown onto the pyre. Rains => pours. Don't they know, One Catastrophe at a Time™. OH YAY! I can't find my little trademark sign due to eponymous computer problems. Use your imagination here. YAY!! Success! Blast those obstacles!!!

When I am doing puzzles, which thankfully have no emotional content [tho I could make an exception for crosswords, since words remind us of things], I work carefully around obstacles. I never say I am "stuck." It sounds like surrender. Rather I say I am evaluating available options.

Sark said of me, without ever meeting me, that I am a "surrendering soul." This is right on so many levels. She also said eldest egDau was "exuberant" before ever meeting her. This woman has the Sight indeed.

In between crying jags I've been evaluating a whole lot of available options. This always has the same ending: a realization that I don't have the answers today, and pray to God that something brilliant will occur to me in the future.

Stepping out on faith? Hell, I'm rollarskating on faith. Hope God knows what I'm doing, because I've lost track.

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10 comments:

Susan McIntosh Lewis said...

What do you do when you're faced with obstacles?

Jeanne said...

Evaluating available options. I am using that. Sometimes I feel like everything is an obstacle, but as an al anon girl "I just give it over to that lovely higher power". Thank Goodness for her! Today's obstacle was how to make dinner and refresh comments every 20 seconds, fast food is the answer. This jury needs to come back soon.

Susan McIntosh Lewis said...

Thank you jeanne. You are reminding me that on one of my previous meltdowns, last summer in Russia, I put forth the urgent question: I don't see how I'm going to make this work.

Peterr and others helped me get to the correct answer: I didn't need to, at least not at that moment. Must cling to that.

I think there are larger political parallels here, we do NOT yet see our way out, but must trust in God [yr higher power here] that there is a way.

Susan McIntosh Lewis said...

SOMEBODY OUT THERE is praying for me because I just figured out a bypass for the computer problem.

THANK YOU.

Susan McIntosh Lewis said...

Do you like the photo? It's my foster brittany, who was found wandering the streets. I provide his food and medicine.

Also I feel good about figuring out how to put graphics on the blog. That was not the computer problem that was making me crazy [in addition to the Russian problem]

Susan McIntosh Lewis said...

Re puzzles/emotional content, I used to say that I loved mathematics because numbers would never hurt you.

What I meant was that teachers could not arbitrarily mark you wrong on math, if you got the answer that was IT. This is obviously before the days when they wanted you to solve the problem THEIR WAY. Which is so counter intuitive if you want to develop real young mathematicians.

Now I understand that numbers can hurt you, for example medical test results.

*******

Ever find the beginnings of a new post here in the comments?

Jeanne said...

I despised math when I was in highschool and college, and then took statistics a couple of year ago for my masters and loved it. Apparently it is not "real" math, but I could have figured out problems and wrote them out all day. Sister Agnes kept wanting me to use the computer but I was hooked. Of course I am getting a masters in counseling psychology, so I only had to take that one math class, but I have decided that I am brilliant at math. Yeah me.

Susan McIntosh Lewis said...

jeanne YES yay you!!! i think you werent taught properly before. go w the new skill w confidence.

Unknown said...

I've taken to facing the obstacles by saying, "I'll work on a little bit of it. I'll just get this little piece done right here, and I'll be proud of that. That'll be enough for now."

Once I take that first little bite, it's not so bad. But so often I have stood biting my nails and fretting and staring at the obstacle. I could do this for years!

I loved statistics, too. I was told that math was my "bugaboo" (iow, my downfall), but I ended up quite good at it when I got older. I think maybe it is because I no longer cared if I looked stupid. I just went with it.

Anonymous said...

egregious, thank you for your blog and many insights over at FDL. My son is bi-polar and, like you, is articulate and amusing. Sometimes when he gets stuck, the only thing that works is to do something completely different for a while. We live on a ranch, so that's always an option here, but I find for myself that chosing one very small thing and doing it completely clears my mind.