Skip to main content

My Morning So Far (Sept. 4th)

Tony-- we'll call him "Machine"-- opened his front door to face squarely all comers. The first of these was an early morning run. Jabbing first with his left, then swinging wildly with his right, he came out nearly unscathed-- except, of course, for the two beautiful girls who seemed to ignore him as he jogged by, to the great disappointment of the champ. Alas, his record remained in place, if his ego seemed a bit bruised.

Not to be outdone by his previous bouts, the Machine stepped next into the ring to take his next-- and equally formidable-- opponent: his 1995, paint-chipped forest green Toyota Camry. If his car was to be presentable, it would need such attention as that given by a mother to her babe. It was here that the Machine had less experience, but more motive, for who knows what cordial well-to-do's might view him driving this, his stallion, his beast.

Coming immediately out of his corner with a haymaker, then a surprise left uppercut, The Machine stood proud of the little water he wasted as he cleaned his beast, and the thoroughness with which he did so. Watching his opponent lay motionless on the mat gave him that self-same sense of achievement he had felt just minutes earlier on his run. He realized amid this glorious circumspection, however, that he was using dish soap to wash his beast; and it occurred to him, just then, that perhaps this was why his beast had paint chips in the first place.

The Machine left the ring victorious once more, but he felt a sense of anxiety, realizing that perhaps his proud victories had in them a sense of defeat; not defeat by his opponents so much, as defeat by himself. The champ's view of himself, having waxed for weeks in training and self-discipline, finally took that natural course in its cycle of esteem, and began to wane.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Heroes

Although we have several examples of heroes in our day, one of the best known is of a woman named Agnes Gonxhe Bojaxhiu (“Gonja Bojaju”), who devoted her life to sustaining the “poor, sick, orphaned, and dying.” Her venue was Calcutta, India, where she served as a teacher until she began to take notice of the poverty there. Seeking to do something about it, she began an organization that consisted of just thirteen members at its inception. Called the “Missionaries of Charity,” the organization would eventually burgeon into well over 5,000 members worldwide, running approximately 600 missions, schools and shelters in 120 countries; and caring for the orphaned, blind, aged, disabled, and poor. As her personal work expanded, she traveled to countries like Lebanon, where she rescued 37 children from a hospital by pressing for peace between Israel and Palestine; to Ethiopia, where she traveled to help the hungry; to Chernobyl, Russia, to assist victims of the nuclear meltdown there; and to
2 comments
Read more

Comparative Medical Care

One thing I'd like to understand is why there is such a difference between medical costs here and those in Haiti. At the time the book Mountains Beyond Mountains was written, in 2003, it often cost $15,000 to $20,000 annually to treat a patient with tuberculosis, while it cost one one-hundredth of that-- $150 to $200-- to treat a patient for the disease in Haiti. Even if the figures aren't completely accurate, the sheer difference would still be there. Indeed, the United States pays more per capita for medical care than any other country on Earth. My first guess for why the disparity exists is that there is a market willing and able to pay more for medical treatment, so suppliers see the demand and respond with higher prices. According to at least one doctor (go to http://scienceblogs.com/denialism/2009/05/what_is_the_cause_of_excess_co.php), part of the reason is administrative prices here. People here have a higher standard of living, and so the cost of care is shifted to
2 comments
Read more

Movie Night

We did it again. My leadership class and I put together another event. We invited the school to watch Dispicable Me . The movie was a hit, so much so that one little girl got up to dance with the main character at the end of the movie. It was a wholesome family night, and on a Monday no less! There were very few issues. It was just a relaxing evening. We're going to use the proceeds to pay for our leadership conference in late March and early April. It should make for a meanigful experience. Signing off...
1 comment
Read more