Thoughts by Richard Bleil
Our laundry is apparently out of commission. My roommate tells me that of the eight machines in the room, four washing machines and four driers, only two washers are working. Last week I noticed the fire department parked outside of the building that shares this laundry room, so I imagine that there was a fire in the room. Today, I mentioned this to a friend of mine, who asked how long it will be out. I informed her that I don’t know, but I’ll just use a laundromat until it’s back online. She said that I’m very easygoing.
Well, maybe. I guess my mother is the one that taught me that there’s not much point in getting upset about things that are beyond our control. One night, the fear of death gripped me and was keeping me awake. My mother asked me what was on my mind, and when I told her of my fear, she told me that there’s nothing I can do about it anyway, so why worry. I was in elementary school at the time, and it was a lesson I never lost.
Things don’t always go the way we expect them to go. I was supposed to be obscenely wealthy by now, but if it were not for my friends helping out I would instead be sleeping under an overpass. Of course I’m disappointed in how things worked out in my life, but I have my blessings. There does come a point where it becomes increasingly difficult to bounce back. Without a home, it’s hard to maintain even basic hygiene, such as showering and cleaning clothes. How difficult must it be to find a job when you’re that far down the hole? I am blessed to have my friends who provided a roof over my head when I needed it, and allowed for me to maintain my electronic files and hygiene in my times of need which I needed to keep going. My heart goes out to those with less than I have, and my love goes out to those who have opened their hearts and homes to me.
Some people have called me brave for never giving up. Believe me, I’ve felt like it, but there’s no point to it. The Buddhists would tell us that there is no good news, and no bad news, simply news. The nature of our life is that things come and they go, and we can no more stop this flow than that of the tide. No matter how secure we believe we are, everything we’ve accomplished can be wiped out in the blink of an eye. A quarter of a million Americans are facing sudden financial hardships for treatment for a pandemic that was never supposed to happen. In modern days, the idea of plagues seem like they should be things of the past, but clearly, they can still afflict our nation. The cost of treatment for this virus is incredibly high, and many people are facing that cost at the same time that they are facing loss of insurance due to lost employment.
Of course, I’m still human. Unfortunately, there are times that my temper will get the better of me. I’m always sorry when this happens, and embarrassed that it happens. Of course, stress is usually a contributing factor. When I find it difficult to keep my temper under control, it’s usually hypoglycemia or stress, or both. It’s really kind of funny. The commercial that coined the phrase “hangry” really hit the nail on the head. With low blood sugar, I start shaking, feel sickly and weak and find myself easy to anger. Of course, a nice candy bar, especially with nuts, helps a lot. The sugar hits the blood quickly restoring my balance, and the protein in the peanuts helps me to keep my blood sugar up longer than pure sugar usually does.
But even this is simply an example of dealing with what comes along. If I fail to eat a meal and my blood sugar gets low, all I need to do is deal with the situation. We have an election coming up. I fear for this nation if the candidate I’m endorsing fails to win the election, but in the end, even if this should come to pass, there’s nothing I can do about it. If I vote, if I speak up and explain who I support and why, that’s all I can do. If he fails, then the next step is simply to accept the results and move on with my life. Not much point in losing my cool since it won’t help anything anyway.
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