Dizzy Does It

A few weekends ago, for reasons beyond my limited medical comprehension, I had a bout with dizziness. Eventually, I prevailed over dizziness, because, I believe, I was in better shape (imagine that!) and had trained harder. But nevertheless, it was quite a fight, lasting several rounds. There are few things, in my mind, that can compare with the helpless feeling of being dizzy. Being drunk maybe, but I wouldn't know that firsthand, since I've never even taken a sip of anything that could make me drunk. Being on strong medications, or not-quite-legal pharmaceuticals, but I wouldn't really know about those either. I wouldn't necessarily call being dizzy an altogether unpleasant sensation, though when I nearly fell down in a crowded restaurant, that was a little disconcerting. It's just a strange feeling to lose control. I think that I, like a lot of people, put a lot of value in being able to control a situation, the outcome of events, or – in my baser moments – even another person. To lose that ability, even for a short time, is humbling. It engenders dependency: on others, on "whatever will be will be", or, if you will, on God. When my hands are tied, or more metaphorically accurately, when I can barely take a step on my own, it's then that I realize that I'm not in control. I never am. It's that ever-present illusion of self-reliance that dies in those moments. And I think that's probably a good thing.

Leaving On A Jet Plane, Didn't Know I'd Come Right Back Again

Yesterday I spent approximately four-and-a-half hours in airports and another six hours or so actually in the air flying. At the end of the day I ended up right back where I started. I never reached my destination. If I were author Max Lucado or some other great storyteller, I'd probably be able to come up with a clever correlation about how this is a good picture of the way we live our lives. Going around in circles, never getting anywhere. But I'm not that clever. Also, I have a headache, which significantly hampers creative thought. So I leave it to you to draw your own conclusions. Get back to me on that. I'll be waiting. I mean, I'm not going to drop everything and wait for your replies, but, you know, I'll check back every now and then to see if anyone has posted a good response. If I think about it... Better write myself a reminder note.

Everybody's Got One

Several people I know have recently started blogs, in which they chronicle the day-to-day events of their lives. I find these to be, for the most part, fascinating. Maybe I'll do that here, too; I'm not sure yet. I also find other things fascinating. For instance, that the official motto of the tiny European country of Luxembourg goes something like this: "Mir wëlle bleiwe wat mir sinn", which roughly translates: "We want to remain what we are" - can't argue with that. Or, for example, that Steven Seagal still gets paid to be an actor, when he never possessed any natural ability to act in the first place, and has since become too old and too portly to be the martial arts "action hero" that he inexplicably was for so many years in so many lame films. Or, to wit, that there are at least two other ways to express the sentiment "for instance"as evidenced by the preceding sentence and this one. I also find it fascinating that – in the English language alone – there are four different ways to express the plural of the word "hyena" – which are as follows: hyenas, hyena, hyenae, and hyenæ. That last one really gets me! How do you even type the letter "æ"? I'm clueless! I said all that to say all this: everyone else seems to have a blog now, so why not me? I'm realistic enough to realize that most people won't be reading this, for the sheer fact that a large number of people in the world don't possess or have access to a personal computer. Or electricity. Or clean water. But that's neither here nor there. Whether you want to read this blog or not, that's up to you. I can't guarantee consistent quality every time I post, although I probably won't misspell anything. I can't even guarantee that what I write will be entertaining, relevant, or entirely true (you know what they say about believing everything you read on the Internet). But I'll do my best with the skill set with which I've been blessed – or cursed. And you can bless or curse me in return. Doesn't matter either way.