Happy v. Productive

In the case of happiness v. productivity, the defendants plead for a mistrial.  The most productive people in the world are by far not the most happy, and conversely the happiest people in the world are by industrial nation's standards considered to be the least productive in terms of GDP. (Also see this recent article on centenarians).

Given the mass hysteria caused by the flooding of New York and the ensuing result being yet another blow to the American GDP this year, what might be the result of some the nation's most productive areas taking a hit in their wallets? While it might be hard to remember that the pain is a fleeting moment, we can look at the earthquake in Japan and the tsunami in Indonesia as now both somewhat distant memories for most busy Americans.  Now is the chance to rebuild.  Everybody is going to be worrying about where their next paycheck and consequently their next meal is going to come from, but giving in to fear is not the way to go.  Reach out to those you think will be glad to help you and they probably will.

In closing, I can only attest to a few things that have helped me in recent weeks cope with the inescapable feelings of doubt and despair that accompany unemployment and subsequent change towards (hopefully) greener pastures.  If you have faith, and don't seek to force yours on others then you will be happy.  If you have money, but do not wish to keep it all to yourself, then you might have a chance (albeit a small one) to be happy.  If you have friends, and do not wish for your friends to be solely an audience for your hysterics then you might possibly be happier much later in life but for now you're still a nutcase. 

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"If I look at the mass, I will never act. If I look at the one, I will." - Mother Teresa

Leaving Las Vegas

"Turn right", stutters the GPS ("gi-gi" as E calls it), "Then... take the freeway". OK it seems we've made it out alright, and now we were headed into the thick of things again. When we hit California, I was receiving so many mixed signals from my head and heart, that now that I look back on it I can see why people think this place is doomed to be either the cause of or the solution to the rest of the nation's problems (and consequently many other places too). I watched out the window driving on the interstate as we passed deeper and deeper toward what looked to be areas of mixed residential and business. "I don't understand it", I thought but I both want to understand and be understood. "There's a lot to be done here."