It has been a couple of days since last I wrote, and I apologize for it...it has been very busy out here on the front line. We have a huge deliverable coming up, so everyone out here has been focusing their energies towards making the deadline. The long days have returned for me, though I should say long nights now that I have shifted myself to working through the night and sleeping through the day. I have been trying to get up at a reasonable hour, one or so in the afternoon, so that I can get the gym and a jog in before heading into the processing shack, then I have been trying to get in a somewhat longer run in the early morning before I turn in (between 4 am and 6 am). It has been going pretty well, though I sometimes worry about running in the dark here for fear of twisting an ankle amidst the ruts and divots of our work yard.
So, January has come and gone...one down and 11 more to go on 2013...should we check in on my Resolutions? I have been very good on them, it seems...so far so good. As of this writing I am about 6 kg down in weight which is about 13.2 pounds, so I am definitely well on track with this one. Siddhartha has been read (re-read I should say)...one classic down, and it appears that Gilgamesh is on my list for February. I have written 17 blog entries so far this year (not including this one, I believe) and have written five or six times in my journal, so while my journal writing can use some improvement I am sticking to the resolution by the letter. I have been reading a couple of books about overcoming materialism and consumerism, so i have been working on being a better dad even though I haven't been with the kids since I came up with the resolution, so this one will have to really wait for an update. I have paid off two outstanding debts while I was over here, so I am on the road to financial freedom. I have been thinking about vacations like crazy out here, as it is sort of the most favorite pastime of everyone on crew, so I know that I will get my vacations in this year. And lastly...the GRE, I have not yet done anything in preparation for this resolution, but I have been in Iraq, so I am giving myself a pass for this one for January...I will act on it while on break in the second half of this month. So, to tally, I have made forward and dutiful progress on six of my seven resolutions this year so far and taken a bit of a mulligan on the last one. Not too bad, if I do say so myself...having to report on them to everyone who may read actually does make it easier to stick to things, in case any of you are looking for motivational assistance.
So, as I have talked a little about I am really making an attempt to live a more purposeful and less materialistic life these days...I want to live this way both for the sake of simplicity in my own life, but also for the benefit of raising children free of the consumer drive and the materialism that fuels so much unhappiness in American society. When you are always looking for more and better stuff you never feel contentment or peace with your life, and I think that is very unfortunate. I know the feeling of dissatisfaction and wanting more, because I feel it very strongly...I was raised to be a consumer through no fault of my parents, but I bought into the American dream fantasy from early on. I now very much want out of the buying cycle. I KNOW that I can't buy happiness now, and I am looking for another path there. I am looking for contentment in my life, peace in my place in the world...I have always suffered from a certain amount of self-aggrandizement and felt strongly that I was drawn to some great destiny, but I suspect that may not be the case as I begin to see my middle years looming on the horizon and no great destiny has yet set itself in my path. Now, I feel like it is important to find happiness with my lot in life...happiness isn't really the right word...I have been happy in my life; I am one of the happiest people that I know, generally speaking. I am more talking about contentment...a lifestyle that feels rewarding for the right reasons. My current lifestyle of constantly looking for the next raise, the next promotion, the next step up the corporate ladder is perhaps less gratifying than I would have hoped...what is the point, after all? To earn more so that I can buy more...more stuff, a bigger house, fancier vacations...is that what life should be about. These increased earnings come with ever greater commitments of time and energy, more sacrifices in my personal and familial life, and less opportunity for sports and leisure (READ: good health). So I end up wealthier with more junk, but missing out on my health, enjoyment of leisure time, and the experience of spending quality time with my family and friends...I will ask the question again - is it worth it?
I have been reading a book called The 100 Thing Challenge, and while I am not always in agreement with the author on why he developed the challenge or in how he went about undertaking it for himself, I think it is an interesting idea. Basically, for those who have no idea what I am talking about, the Challenge is to live with only 100 personal possessions for an entire year. The idea is that by so limiting your ownership of stuff you sort of "reboot" your spending and buying impulses allowing you more freedom from materialism and American consumer culture. I am not sure that it is exactly correct theoretically from a psychological perspective, but I am willing to play...I think that it may have some validity. In any case, I am not that far into the book right now, only about 1/3 of the way through, so I am not sure how he does, what sorts of hurdles and pitfalls he had to overcome, and whether he ends up feeling like it was worth it, though I suppose that he certainly feels like it was worth it in the end as he now sells a book all about the experience, so whether it freed him from the consumer lifestyle or not he at least makes his living off the experience now. I am pondering the notion of doing a similar sort of experiment in my own life, or possibly just taking his challenge as is...I could use to get rid of much of the junk that has accumulated in my life...I have a lot more stuff than I have room in my little apartment, and I don't need most of it, I think. I tend to be a little sentimental about things, so it is hard for me to throw stuff away sometimes, even when it has far outlived its useful life. Something to work on, I suppose.
As I work on minimizing my stuff and lifestyle, I also want to work on minimizing my environmental footprint. I feel very bad that I have not been better about recycling and reusing and buying products made in an environmentally responsible manner. I will be better about all of these things moving forward. I plan to start implementing these lifestyle changes as soon as I return to Houston and my "real" life. I know that one person won't change the future or make the world better, but perhaps I at least can feel better about my own impact on what my kids and grandkids will be left with when I am rotting away in the ground.
Well, that is what I've got for tonight before it gets too late. I will really make an attempt to put something good out tomorrow. I am just enjoying another night in paradise...I hope you are too!
So, January has come and gone...one down and 11 more to go on 2013...should we check in on my Resolutions? I have been very good on them, it seems...so far so good. As of this writing I am about 6 kg down in weight which is about 13.2 pounds, so I am definitely well on track with this one. Siddhartha has been read (re-read I should say)...one classic down, and it appears that Gilgamesh is on my list for February. I have written 17 blog entries so far this year (not including this one, I believe) and have written five or six times in my journal, so while my journal writing can use some improvement I am sticking to the resolution by the letter. I have been reading a couple of books about overcoming materialism and consumerism, so i have been working on being a better dad even though I haven't been with the kids since I came up with the resolution, so this one will have to really wait for an update. I have paid off two outstanding debts while I was over here, so I am on the road to financial freedom. I have been thinking about vacations like crazy out here, as it is sort of the most favorite pastime of everyone on crew, so I know that I will get my vacations in this year. And lastly...the GRE, I have not yet done anything in preparation for this resolution, but I have been in Iraq, so I am giving myself a pass for this one for January...I will act on it while on break in the second half of this month. So, to tally, I have made forward and dutiful progress on six of my seven resolutions this year so far and taken a bit of a mulligan on the last one. Not too bad, if I do say so myself...having to report on them to everyone who may read actually does make it easier to stick to things, in case any of you are looking for motivational assistance.
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| A little more svelte though no better looking...check out my hair! AWESOME! |
So, as I have talked a little about I am really making an attempt to live a more purposeful and less materialistic life these days...I want to live this way both for the sake of simplicity in my own life, but also for the benefit of raising children free of the consumer drive and the materialism that fuels so much unhappiness in American society. When you are always looking for more and better stuff you never feel contentment or peace with your life, and I think that is very unfortunate. I know the feeling of dissatisfaction and wanting more, because I feel it very strongly...I was raised to be a consumer through no fault of my parents, but I bought into the American dream fantasy from early on. I now very much want out of the buying cycle. I KNOW that I can't buy happiness now, and I am looking for another path there. I am looking for contentment in my life, peace in my place in the world...I have always suffered from a certain amount of self-aggrandizement and felt strongly that I was drawn to some great destiny, but I suspect that may not be the case as I begin to see my middle years looming on the horizon and no great destiny has yet set itself in my path. Now, I feel like it is important to find happiness with my lot in life...happiness isn't really the right word...I have been happy in my life; I am one of the happiest people that I know, generally speaking. I am more talking about contentment...a lifestyle that feels rewarding for the right reasons. My current lifestyle of constantly looking for the next raise, the next promotion, the next step up the corporate ladder is perhaps less gratifying than I would have hoped...what is the point, after all? To earn more so that I can buy more...more stuff, a bigger house, fancier vacations...is that what life should be about. These increased earnings come with ever greater commitments of time and energy, more sacrifices in my personal and familial life, and less opportunity for sports and leisure (READ: good health). So I end up wealthier with more junk, but missing out on my health, enjoyment of leisure time, and the experience of spending quality time with my family and friends...I will ask the question again - is it worth it?
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| These would definitely make my list of 100 things |
I have been reading a book called The 100 Thing Challenge, and while I am not always in agreement with the author on why he developed the challenge or in how he went about undertaking it for himself, I think it is an interesting idea. Basically, for those who have no idea what I am talking about, the Challenge is to live with only 100 personal possessions for an entire year. The idea is that by so limiting your ownership of stuff you sort of "reboot" your spending and buying impulses allowing you more freedom from materialism and American consumer culture. I am not sure that it is exactly correct theoretically from a psychological perspective, but I am willing to play...I think that it may have some validity. In any case, I am not that far into the book right now, only about 1/3 of the way through, so I am not sure how he does, what sorts of hurdles and pitfalls he had to overcome, and whether he ends up feeling like it was worth it, though I suppose that he certainly feels like it was worth it in the end as he now sells a book all about the experience, so whether it freed him from the consumer lifestyle or not he at least makes his living off the experience now. I am pondering the notion of doing a similar sort of experiment in my own life, or possibly just taking his challenge as is...I could use to get rid of much of the junk that has accumulated in my life...I have a lot more stuff than I have room in my little apartment, and I don't need most of it, I think. I tend to be a little sentimental about things, so it is hard for me to throw stuff away sometimes, even when it has far outlived its useful life. Something to work on, I suppose.
As I work on minimizing my stuff and lifestyle, I also want to work on minimizing my environmental footprint. I feel very bad that I have not been better about recycling and reusing and buying products made in an environmentally responsible manner. I will be better about all of these things moving forward. I plan to start implementing these lifestyle changes as soon as I return to Houston and my "real" life. I know that one person won't change the future or make the world better, but perhaps I at least can feel better about my own impact on what my kids and grandkids will be left with when I am rotting away in the ground.
Well, that is what I've got for tonight before it gets too late. I will really make an attempt to put something good out tomorrow. I am just enjoying another night in paradise...I hope you are too!
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| Beard check...furry. |
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