every excess becomes a vice November 30, 2007

 ”Every excess becomes a vice”

Irony of all ironies, we picked this one on Thanksgiving, our national day of gluttony.  Perhaps indulging to excess once a year, as opposed to adopting excess as a way of life, allows us to appreciate how good we have it. Even our ascetic Pilgrim forebears knew enough to revel in the abundance of this land for one day a year. It’s important to practice moderation, but it is also important to practice celebration and offer up appreciation. Like anything else, moderation should be practiced in moderation.  In other words, live it up a little – just be thankful while you do!

 Note: The turkey in the photo is actually a cake I baked, it’s a faux fowl.

you have at your command September 22, 2007

“You Have at Your Command the Wisdom of The Ages”

There is a lot of great advice, modern and ancient, available to us – we have access to the insights of so many others who have walked before us.  We have the opportunity to sort through it, assimilate it, live it, if we choose.  It’s there for the taking. But too often our culture confuses information and knowledge with wisdom.  We have more information at our fingertips than at any other time in history, but all the knowledge in the world will not necessarily make us wise.  Wisdom is not found in trite bits on a website . . . or is it?  You have the wisdom of the ages available to you — do you have the wisdom to see it?

if you understand what you’re doing September 10, 2007

“If you understand what you’re doing, you’re not learning anything.”  We’ve all heard a thousand times that you have to get outside of your “comfort zone” in order to learn and grow, which seems to be the point of this fortune.  But the question that it does not address is, why do we value learning?  What’s wrong with staying in your comfort zone?  In strength training, the body will reach plateaus where you don’t increase the weights you are lifting, even though you are working out regularly.  The solution to this is to change your workout, shocking the body with new exercises, causing it to respond to this different challenge by getting stronger.  Perhaps life is the same way.  Staying in your comfort zone for a while can be a good thing, allowing you to “get into shape,” mentally, spiritually or emotionally.  But when you plateau, when your comfort level isn’t comfortable anymore but feels like a rut instead, maybe you have to increase the weight in your life, that is, let yourself approach new challenges, so that you can become a stronger person. 

being faithful to a trust September 7, 2007

“Being faithful to a trust brings its own reward.”

Because I have been traveling the last 10 days, I haven’t had access to my collection of fortunes. So, while in Newport, OR, I bought a box of La Choy fortune cookies.  The box says that they are “Inspired by Traditional Asian Cuisine.” Although the cookies tasted pretty good, the fortune I got from my first cookie was strangely worded (was that inspired by Asian cuisine?). I’m guessing they mean that if someone trusts you, and you live up to it, it’s rewarding for you. If that’s what they mean, I agree, but it’s not the most interesting fortune ever written.