Showing posts with label overuse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label overuse. Show all posts

Monday, January 11, 2010

got an agenda?


if you're going to have an agenda, at least make it friendly.
this is the journal my friend Heather made me to take on my travels.


It seems to me that one of the worst inventions humans ever created was an agenda.  I have one.  You have one.  My neighbour has one.  So does yours.  They come in all colours, shapes and sizes.  Book form, electronic, or a calendar posted on the kitchen wall..... we live by our agendas.   Some don't share theirs AT ALL.  They keep it all tucked away in their brains and let it fuel their mission. They remind us of what we want and what we must do to get what we want.  They hold our schedules, timetables, deadlines, appointments so we don't have to think about them.  Those navigators are necessary to free up our minds in order to pursue pot of gold goals.  You know, some people even testify that their agenda is a Godsend.  hmmmm............ Can't live without an agenda. 

Isn't that crazy?  Can you see why I suggest they are the worst invention ever?  No.......... Well, here's more.  They drive our choices, our days, our lives and make us single mindedly blind to the agenda of another.  You see, my agenda is more important than yours.  Isn't that right?  What I want is WAY more important than what you want.  I know this for a fact because I have a full agenda.  Yours has gaps. In fact. I know most of your agenda and it's ridiculous! Who in their right mind wants those things???

So often I know my agenda clashes with yours, but since I need to be rigid in my pursuit to get what I want accomplished, I'm not really concerned what yours holds. Mine's more important than yours.  My agenda. All MINE. And the more I rely on it...........on the so VERY important items that drive my mission to succeed, to WIN, the more psyched I am to do whatever it takes.  I have absolutely NO TIME to get to know you..... I'm way too busy getting my needs met.

At night, when we finally collapse in a heap on the couch after a full agenda day........of pushing to get what we want, to be recognized with email accolades, coffee mug prizes and air mile bonuses for trips we never have time for; when we let our guard down as we sink into a soft landing pad after clashing with other people intent on jousting for their pie of the agenda pie....... silent reality hits just for a scary split second.  Alone, except for our selfish attitudes.  It is only then we have the opportunity to address what is really important in life, but oddly is missing on the pages of our agenda scribblings ........ love, friendship, compassion, serving others, connecting, sharing.  

Then we push that aside.... pffffffft to that!  WE've got better fish to fry than that mushy stuff.  Let some do gooder social work type deal with that crap.  Besides, I've got church services booked in my trusty agenda.  I can listen to that sermon on Sunday.  Same old, same old.......


Sadly, the gas tank is empty anyways.  After a long day of working our agenda, we have no energy left.   Too tired to reflect.  Too tired to look in the mirror.  Too tired to care. So, we uncork the bottle of wine and pour ourselves a glass to toast ourselves as we close the book on another day. 

Gee....it sounds like one hand clapping.

Saturday, January 09, 2010

extreme


EXTREME.....................




scream

temperatures

fatigue
poverty
passion
pita

skiing
tatooing

sports
happiness
sorrow
ideas

right
left
suprise
climax

weather 
beliefs

makeover

cold
heat
devastation
pain

chewing gum
deals
dimensions
delight
demands

disappointment

body piercing

hunger
desire
hell
conditions
obesity
thinness
solidarity
solitude
paranoia

addiction
abuse
apathy
emotions
sexual appetite
roller coaster
extravagance
measures
OVERREACTION

From the nadir to the apex and nothing in between, descriptions of the "extreme" send our imaginations beyond what we can fathom.  We see as far as our eyes can take us....to the point of where the stars line the outer universe.  But, then we learn that our interpretation of what we THINK is extreme goes beyond our cognitive boundaries.  There is no status quo, no static benchmark for the location of where dwells.  Technology for example has allowed us to travel into the realm of what we could only label as infinity.  Once again, it pushed the extreme boundaries as we have learned this week when they announced on the news of five new planets.   It all seems so....so.....so...... unbelievable.   

The term "extreme" is inordinately overused, to a point where it is mugged of any believability.  It's used to expressively tantalize, to clamp onto our attention.......... to blow air in our face in order for us to lose our breath and say "WOW!," "HOLY TOLEDO!"  "AWESOME," "DUDE, That's  TOTALLY EXTREME! " However, it has no validity, no statistical support, no facts to back it up.  Extreme is not a measurement, except that it is defined as the zenith....the OUTER most limit.  It is a flagrant uttering used to poke our emotional buttons.  And it is so overused to a point of skepticism..... and beyond.......

It's time to eliminate it from our vocabulary before we seriously suffer from extreme irritation.

Sunday Scribblings this week looks at the word "extreme..." as a salute to the weather conditions in England this week.  Though it seems unprecedented, one never knows what the future holds. The snow and ice and slippery conditions may just be a walk in the park a few years from now.  I'm sure my friends in the UK are extremely discombombulated over that prediction.  For that, I'm infinitely sorry.  Whatever that means.