A really mushy wish for a better tomorrow

So I am going to be soft and mushy--almost chick-like--with this post. And why not?

One of the things that makes us different from most of the rest of life that inhabits this earth is our ability to quickly learn from what goes on around us. Yes, we can be stunningly blind to things, but if you think about it, the amount of information that a human brain processes in a single day is amazing. And our ability to pick out patterns and react to them, though it may seem mundane, is really nothing short of miraculous.

And yet look at all the crap we put up with on a daily basis. And look at the fact that most of the crap is made by us for us. Crap is the waste product of human interaction. It's that waste product that can cause us to go to bed bone tired when we really haven't been physically exerted all day. And it's the same waste product that can cause futile wishes that the night go on forever, just so we don't have to get up to face the day.

And like it or not, each of us has ownership of some percentage of the crap mountain. Lord knows, I own my share.

But it's so unnecessary. It's not enough to disagree. We have to follow it with "idiot" or "moron" or worse. Our skins have become collectively thin. It's not just the people who sue at the drop of a hat, it's also the people who will judge everything about a person's life based on a few hundred words in a news article, or a momentary encounter with them.

The result is a sort of psychic toxin that pollutes the lake we all swim in.

It's got to stop. It has to for me, at least.

So today, which the cereal commercial tells me is the first day of the rest of my life, is the first day where I try to make a more appropriate contribution to the world in which I live. I'm not going to do so by pretending that I like everything. That is intellectual fraud. But I'm going to do it through effort and a serious attempt to be more thoughtful in how I process and respond to things.

I am doomed to periodic failure, that is sure. But any process with a worthwhile outcome involves failure along the way.

Wish me luck. And join me if you want. We may fail together, but hopefully in the end, it will be worth it.