Next in Line!

Next:  The one immediately following.


I keep a journal so that I can jot down important ideas and thoughts as they come to me during the course of my day.  I re-read it from time to time and invariably think: "Huh.  I didn't pay attention to any of the advice I gave myself."  This is why I try not to give advice to other people.  I can't be bothered to even take any of my own advice.  Good, solid advice by someone who is intimately familiar with all of my assets and defects and the daily circumstances of my life, and still I ignore it.


"Who does that bastard think he is, telling me what to do with his I-know-better-than-you arrogant attitude?  Like he's done such a great job of running his own life," I say to myself, in a loud voice, unaware that this is the kind of stuff that gets people locked up in state run insane asylums.   Mental health professionals look askance at people walking around, arguing vociferously despite the absence of any other actual living people.  It indicates some internal conflict that needs to be addressed.


Sometimes it dawns on me that I'm the one giving myself advice and then not following it.  This fact makes it a lot more palatable when someone I give advice to doesn't pay any attention to me. The best advice I have ever dispensed, and I dispense it frequently, is don't give anyone any advice.


Anyway, I took a look back through the past year's Thoughts for the Day to see if anything important popped out.  It was a momentous year with much change that required a lot of momentous decisions.  What struck me was the brilliance of the philosophy "Do The Next Right Thing."  Sometimes we say "Do What's In Front Of You," which is even simpler and more brilliant.


SuperK and I spent a lot of time doing things and making choices without a clear knowledge of where they would lead us or whether they were the "right" decisions to make.  I was amused to see how many times we started a process, sure it would lead to a particular conclusion, only to be disappointed.  But when we kept slogging away we invariably popped out into a better, or more appropriate, at least, place.  Some of these things were decisions on matters that we very much wanted to be decided.  When the action didn't leave to an outcome which concluded the matter, we were disappointed or depressed.


Yet, here I sit today in a pretty good place.  I took the steps.  I took the actions.  I got lots of advice and I flew blind much of the time.  It can be frustrating and exhilarating all at the same time.