I think it's good to stop and appreciate the natural highs we can have in life. They are cheap, and reflecting on them helps us taste them again. I will share two I enjoyed recently.
Problem solving
I have for a long time got a real kick out of problem solving. When I was at school I struggled to work out the niceties of English grammar. ( You're probably saying "That's obvious.") I could not remember the details and dates in Geography and History (The way they taught those subjects back then was criminal... it wasn't teaching, it was guaranteed to turn young minds off!) But I LOVED maths and science. I remember the first year we did geometry. I sat at the back of the class and when the problem was given to us... (How long is the longest side of the triangle? What is the angle of...? Etc) I would put my head down and really enjoy following the logic. "That angle is such and such. Such and such a theorem says... Oh ...I know how I can work that out!" I loved the "penny dropping" feeling and the way I could work out the answer. "Spud King" our Maths teacher would look at me and say, "Brown, why aren't you working?" "I'm finished sir!" "Bring it here, lad, you better be right!" ... and I always was. I loved geometry, trigonometry, and algebra. (I have forgotten it all now though) I loved the feeling of finding the answer. When I went on to plumbing night classes and on the job we had similar problems to solve. I was a way ahead of my fellow apprentices in the classes. I could arrive late and still have the problem finished before anyone else. And I loved on the job when we had some tricky situation and you had to find some way of doing the seemingly impossible. When I went to University there was a philosophy subject called "Symbolic Logic". I loved it. ... I simply got off on the joy of solving problems. Well that kick has not stopped. I have been foreman on the Habitat for Humanity site recently. I hated being given that responsibility. I am not a builder. I lose sleep over it the night before. I don't need the stress. ... but I have discovered I do enjoy one aspect of it. Let me give you an example. One young guy was nailing a surround around a window. A short bit of weather board split. He came to me, "What do we do? How can we fix it? We can't get at the nails?" I looked at it... I stewed... and thought... "Now if I get my... (tool) and then I try.... then we could... then maybe we'll be able to.... " So between the both of us we worked on it and within a short time it was as good as new! I loved that feeling! It has happened every day I have been foreman... I'm not a builder... but I love solving problems and I can do it! Today I have been doing a wee plumbing job around home. It looked like I would have to pull half the kitchen apart to do it... but I looked at it, thought about it, and found a better way to tackle it. Cool bananas .. I love problem solving... its a great natural high!
Seeing people grow.
Another natural high is seeing people grow. I will give you two examples. I have got involved with PACT and their Thursday morning soccer for the people in their care. I have got some from our drop-in centre involved. I go and strain every leg muscle I have playing soccer. Playing with them is simply a great buzz. But the real kick is seeing guys and girls getting to enjoy it, becoming fitter, animated and changing from static solemn expressions to grins a mile wide. They have changed from stand offish, hesitant people, to people going for it, giving me cheek and competing madly with me. One sends me texts when he has done other exercise. It is soo cool seeing the change, the new life and the growth. It's a real high. Another example happened on Saturday. These three girls, in their late teens or early twenties fronted up to the Habitat job. "Can we help?" they asked. "Yes, what can you do?" "Well nothing, but we just want to help." "Ok," I said, "I will show you a job I want done. You will look at it and think you can't do it, but by the end of the day you will be doing it well." So I showed them a room to line. I gave them some sheets of paper with some instructions on. I talked them through what had to be done. They were so good. They set about diligently doing it one step at a time. When they had questions they yelled. When they got stuck they came running, but with heaps of laughter, and yet a sensible approach, they had lined the room by the end of the day. They were just beaming from ear to ear! They were so proud! "Can we come back next week? Will you still have us?" "Yes sure! You did well, like I said you would... did you enjoy it?" "It was soooo much fun!" they oozed, "We loved it! What a great day!" At that point I was about as high as they were... what a great privilege to be part of that. I love being a part of seeing people grow!
Welcome to my world
As I said yesterday, I am batching and listening to loud music. One country song that was playing when I started this post was, "Welcome to my world... won't you come on in". I guess that's what's happening through this blog. I am letting whoever is willing to read my blog into my weird and wonderful world. "Welcome. Thanks for dropping in."
Photo: Part of our backyard as I was sitting outside for a cup of tea late this afternoon.
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