You're Going To Be Ok

I am blogging everyday (or nearly everyday) on The Daily Stoic.

This is a sentiment I’ve tried to carry through work. Working in security has it’s chaotic days. It has it’s long days. Really it’s IT in general. At some point we’re going to logoff or check out from the work. I realized this early on coming up through IT. It was 3 a.m. in the morning and there was still work to be done. Yes, it was a long day. I comforted myself though that it has to end at some point. We have to find that resolution or get it to a point where there’s a workaround that is in place.

Daily Stoic(s)

I am blogging everyday (or nearly everyday) on The Daily Stoic.

Yesterday - The Pleasure Of Tuning Out The Negative

During this pandemic I was asked to do some threat intelligence for the company I work at. We’re a healthcare company so COVID fit into this. I would use Google News to sift through headlines and look for things that impacted the company. There wasn’t much and it often felt like trying to find a needle in a haystack. At one point I recognized the negative impact it was having on me. Looking at constant headlines of doom put me in a dark mood. I eventually stopped and things have gotten a lot brighter for me in life. I will check headlines every once and a while. Usually, I let the good or bad news come to me via the company or people around me.

Today - It’s Not On Them, It’s On You

I recently had to do reviews for people. Part of that was self-reviews people did. I had to rate one person lower than their expectations. I pushed this person this past year and they made strides. They just didn’t make strides to what I expected. That is on me. I didn’t provide them the right feedback or even timely feedback. I still need to improve as a manager and get them to the place they and I want them to be.

The Altar Of No Difference

I am blogging everyday (or nearly everyday) on The Daily Stoic.

With young children they say don’t compare them to others. Then when they’re into elementary school they start getting compared against a baseline. I’ve always found this annoying. We all grow and develop differently and at our own pace. It took me much longer to pull my life together than some of the people who knew what they wanted to do coming out of high school. That’s okay because after the college years age and success don’t matter as much. We can be successful early or later in life. It makes no difference. That’s what the stoic is getting at is that in the end we all meet our demise. Wasting energy on comparing ourselves against others is a fruitless exercise and cause more harm than good.

Daily Stoic(s)

I am blogging everyday (or nearly everyday) on The Daily Stoic.

Friday - Attachments Are The Enemy

Attachments are things outside of our reasoned choice. This can be status or an image we hold. As I’ve gotten better at golf I’ve started to hold onto the attachment of my good shots. I feel like I should play better than I am. This happened this past Saturday when I got off to a really bad start. I was frustrated and knew I needed to let that go. It was tough. I posted a 59 on the front nine. Once I got over my attachment to good shots I started playing better. I shot a 49 on the back nine.

Yesterday - Train To Let Go Of What’s Not Yours

I burrowed someone my backup batter pack to charge a device. The other night. They left without returning it to me. I have a friend who is trying to get it back. I’ve come to terms that it may be gone forever. It’s not the end of the world and not something worth fretting over. I can just buy a new one.

Today - Funny How That Works Out

Struggles can often be the best thing that happen to us. I had a significant improvement in my life after a six month period of losing my girlfriend; having a roommate move out and cut off all communications; and getting in trouble at work. It got really bad. Then it got better because I wanted to avoid situations like that again so I started reading and listening to self-improvement content. On the opposite side once I got to a more financially stable place, I suddenly lost my purpose and where I wanted to go in life. That’s led to unhealthy habits that I have recently identified and started working on. There’s opportunity in every struggle whether self-induced or not.

The Glass Is Already Broken

I am blogging everyday (or nearly everyday) on The Daily Stoic.

Kids will very quickly help you realize that nothing is prized. I’ve gotten upset at my kids for breaking this or “ruining” that. When we sold our house and moved to Tennessee, I knew I had to repaint the walls. Coming into our new house I realize the same thing will have to happen prior to selling this house. I still screw up though. I bought a new TV last year figuring the kids were of age that they’d keep their hands off the TV. The lower half of our previous TV had all their little hand prints from growing up. I came home one day and blew up because right smack dab in the middle was a hand print.

It was a reminder that things will and eventually break. I’ve taken this approach with my “special” glassware. I’ve bought glasses from distillery and breweries. I’ve tried to reduce the amount but then I visit another brewer that I like or want to support. I also got glassware from volunteering at the social engineering village. At the party event I’ll usually get a nice piece of glassware. I left mine the first year. I got the next two years. Unfortunately, both of those are broken because I knocked them over at in opportune times. The first time I was upset, the second time I was better prepared.