Been thinking about unleashing my inner smug, cocky bastard again lately.
Could conceivably be worthwhile.
See, I have also been considering something I first started pondering a very long time ago but has attained special meaning to me lately :
Whether or not it’s better to be cautious and avoid pain or it’s better to act on impulse get hurt, and learn from that.
It’s a more complicated question that it sounds.
To a naturally cautious person like myself, the knee-jerk but naïve answer is that it is obvious far better to not get hurt.
I mean, duh.
But I have also noticed that some perpetually incautious people seem to get along quite well in life. So they are obviously learning something somehow.
The difference is they are learning them emotionally.
Like on an animal level. Over time, this turns into finely tuned instinct and they end up being able to navigate through life on a purely gut level.
This is why some “go with my gut” types are actually quite intelligent on the practical level. Their gut is pretty damned smart because they have been teaching it a lot of life lessons on an unconscious level for their entire lives.
And at the same time, they are strengthening their will every time they do what their emotions tell them to do and it works out.
They end up with a strong and deep well of personal energy that they can bring to bear on life’s challenges and therefore not be daunted by them.
And when life kicks them to the ground, they can get right back up again and tackle the problem again, this time a little bit smarter.
But my point is that there is a hard limit to the utility of caution and a well balanced person (unlike me) can benefit from both approaches.
Which brings us (believe it or not) back to me being smug and cocky.
See, amongst all the reasons why I have never let that side of myself rise to the top, the strongest is probably caution.
That kind of attitude more or less requires acting without much forethought. No matter how much intellect it is based on, its core is purely emotional.
Basically, I would have to, at least some of the time, let my ego make the decisions.
Seems like madness to my legacy fake rationalist side, but I am working hard to obsolete that system as fast as I possibly can.
As an additional benefit, a smug and self-assured me might well attract the kind of challenge I have always wanted in my life but could never find.
There’s something to be said for making people wanting to wipe that smug smile off your face and make you eat dirt.
I mean, I can’t be the smartest guy in the world. It’s too improbable. There has to be people out there who could totally kick my ass in terms of verbal skills and debating prowess and all of that stuff.
And I really want to meet these people. And I want them to kick my ass.
Because then I will have finally found someone who can teach me.
I will have found my sensei.
More after the break.
Another ordering in adventure
Although this one, thank goodness, is short.
Ordered me a donair with all the fixins (rice, tabbouleh, a little salad, etc.) and got something done while I waited for it to arrive.
Namely, I ordered myself a phone.
Yup, finally getting around to replacing the one that died a week and change ago. Was going to replace it earlier but ran out of available funds, so I had to wait.
In the meantime, Julian has leant me a phone. It’s one that his parents gave him a long time ago, so he has a sentimental attachment to it. So he has been somewhat antsy to get it back.
Probably because he saw the awful state its predecessor was in when it died.
Well Julian, you heard it here second : I ordered a new phone and it will arrive tomorrow. You’re welcome.
It’s nothing fancy, just a simple cordless phone with a base and a handset.
The base is just barely big enough to hold the handset. That’s how basic it is.
Anyhow, I get that done after a false start where on this computer, it wanted my Amazon password, and I don’t know it, but on my Amazon Kindle Fire 10 tablet, it was smooth sailing all the way.
Then I return to Mister Computer only to find a message saying my order was rejected.
Being a highly neurotic product of the middle class. I immediately had to know WHY they had REJECTED me
My order, I mean. Of course. Ahem.
So I hopped onto the support text chat and was told it was not me who got rejected, it was the donair place that got taken offline because they stopped responding to orders.
My theory? They closed early and forgot to tell Skip.
I tried to find another donair place, but all three of them were closed.
So I did a little sideways hop into shawarma. It’s from the same broad family of cuisines and they serve sort of the same thing.
This time it worked. I had some marvelous lamb shawarma with all the fixins instead.
Really, the only major difference was I was down one pita.
And the great thing about shawarma for me is that not only is shawarma delicious, but it’s a cuisine that always leaves me feeling great.
Kind of like Subway, come to think of it. And sushi.
Maybe the secret is to combine low carb-ish foods with lots of meat and vegetables.
I already have the low carb thing going on. So I guess I need to add more meat and vegetables to my diet.
I think that next time I get groceries, I’m gonna get myself a lettuce.
A little salad with every meal could do me a lot of good.
And making salads is fun.
I will talk to you nice people again tomorrow.