Usable Insight – Feeling Uptight? Try this
“When I was dropping you — my baby boy –
off to leave for college, I was very upset.
Then I saw a mother dropping her son off
to go to Vietnam.
I knew I would see you in a few months;
she didn’t know if she’d ever see her son again.
Then I stopped being upset and became just a little sad.”
- my mom dropping me off at Logan Airport in September, 1966
to attend UC Berkeley and something she remembers
more clearly than what she ate for breakfast
I have become a combination masochist-”rubber necker” when I read my daily Los Angeles Times.
Instead of starting at the front, I read the Business section first and become either depressed or anxious, then I look at Sports to become distracted, then I glance through the auto and other ads to look at things I was once able to buy, then I very briefly look at the Home section to see how far my home’s value has dropped, then I look at the Calendar section to possibly find a movie of interest to escape to and finally I look at the front page. And the front page of the Saturday, December 13 LA Times gave me reason to pause…a little perspective and calmed me down.
Maybe it will do the same for you: Saturday, December 13, 2008 Los Angeles Times, Page 1, “Honoring the Fallen.”.
And to gain even more perspective and a little education go to: PTSD – Hello in There
December 15th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Mark,
Finally I see a brand of vulnerability that gives me a glimpse beyond the “sage” to a real person with their own foibles and shortcomings; someone I can identify with in the sameness of most days and can speak from similar experience and perspective.
Now, I can buy one of your books and feel I am being addressed eye to eye. I sincerely appreciate that kind of leadership from the trenches.
December 15th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
Were you one of those draft-dodgers?
December 15th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Hi Mark
Great stuff as always. Hope you are well.
I get back WEdnesday. See you Thursday.
Where do you want to meet? Our coffee place!!!!
Chris
December 18th, 2008 at 11:54 pm
Thanks Cliff for seeing me “eye to eye,” I’ll do my best to stay or at least visit that level
Ed, I was in college and then medical school during those years, but yes, I feel part of that was to avoid going to Vietnam. I’m trying to make amends by writing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder for Dummies and finding away to repay the sacrifice of those who served and died in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq and the firemen and policemen who have given so much so that all of us could be safe and free. Honoring them is not enough. Don’t you agree?
Chris, Thanks for our meeting today. You are very good at what you do and bring incredible value to the individuals and companies you coach. You’re the best I’ve met and I’ve met a lot.
December 24th, 2008 at 7:28 am
I have to say, that I could not agree with you in 100%, but it
December 26th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
You got master mind on Usable Insight – Feeling Uptight? Try this, that\’s why you could able to write a article like this, hats off mate – keep up the good work.
February 2nd, 2009 at 8:39 am
Hello I think your post