Sometimes it’s easier than you think
Really. I thought today was going to be a total bear. But it ended up being a pretty nice run. Yesterday was stressful. big meeting at the new job, orientation sort of thing. Got an idea of the schedule and what level classes I will be teaching. Also a little bit of a disappointment on when Christmas Break starts, and realizing I’ll not get to spend as much time with my family as I’d like over the holiday.
As I have already cast my votes via absentee ballot. Yes, I vote for every office, and on every question on every ballot, every year. The debate last night was largely unimportant to me personally. But obviously, I wanted my preferred choice to do better, and the other choice to do as poorly as one could. Unfortunately, the bar for that person was set so amazingly low, that it was very difficult for him to screw up. Luckily, it seems he did! It just doesn’t get any better than that. It seems there was a problem with him sniffling, lots of interruptions, and of course “I never said that” when he totally said that. So good, hopefully people start realizing how truly horrible he is as a choice.
So chances are I won’t be running the half marathon in town this weekend. Nobody has answered my inquiry about how to register. I’m not dealing with anymore stress than I absolutely have to. I’m never going to have endorsement deals, sponsorship, or any of that mess. I move up an age group next year and this is only my 4th full year running, 5th overall. I don’t run, blog, post on social media, work a job, or anything in life to be well-liked, popular, rich, famous, attractive, all of those things are fairly meaningless to me. I do all this to try and make the world a better place. That’s it. If one person reads, or listens to one thing I ever write, and it makes a positive impact on their life. If it motivates them to be better in some way, shape, or form I have succeeded. It’s all I’ve ever wanted. To make the world a better place.
Every day, it’s all I strive for. I find emptiness working for a paycheck. I saw someone, who I consider smart, post about how we can’t force morality from corporations, and their inequity is a simple fact of life. This is someone who rails against inequity all over the place, yet complacently accepts the very system that puts that inequity in place. I was dumbfounded. They then said, “To have a bad job is better than no job.” What is the virtue of work, of having a job? If we are not making the world better than what we found it, if we are not filling our purpose as thinking, empathetic beings, if we are destroying the very things we need to survive, what good is our job doing? When the lands and waters are all poisoned, we will find we can’t eat money.
If we are to be virtuous beings, then our systems must also be virtuous. Business is not a natural state of being. We create the system, and we intentionally make it hurt people, and then we claim that’s just the way things are, and we can’t force the system we created to be fair? That makes no sense to me. I participate in the system as much as I have to, beyond that I simply use what I can to try and help and make things a bit better. I can’t repair the system. I’m one person. But I can see how it can be repaired, and try and share what I see and what I know, and maybe people listen and it catches on, or maybe I am ignored. I still did what I could to help.
That’s it though. So I’m not here for my ego, money, advertisers, even to tell people how to live and be. I’m just here sharing what I think and hoping it makes someone’s day a little better, in some way. That’s all. The good news is, even if no one listens, even if my words are useless, every day I don’t eat meat, and that makes at least one animal’s life better. So every day, I’ve done something good, regardless of all other things that happen.
Have fun, keep running, and remember; if Gil can run then so can you!
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