Worry

I make a living at helping people who worry. I give great advice and give tips for handling problems of every sort. It is easy, if they are not your problems. It is always easier to help someone than it is to help yourself. Now it's my turn to worry. For four years I have had the luxury of being in stable employment. Healthcare, especially psychiatry, is an unstable business for the most part. For many reasons I will not go into, that security is no longer here. I may have to look for a new job soon.



I am reminded of how job uncertainty lurks in the mind and bounds to the forefront whenever it can. An idle mind is a mind that worries about the job, money, the future, the bills, and all the implications.



I toy with ideas of changing careers, but what? I am what I am and will probably stay that way. For now though, I wait and do some scheming of my own. Things may work out fine where I am. They may not, but I know somehow they will work out.



Mondays are traditionally bad days, because we have to go back to work. Not this week for me, I am glad I have a job because I may be facing life without one soon - but who knows?



I hope your job situations are stable and I hope I am worrying for nothing.



Until the next time

John Strain

Leaving A Record

I am a typical person. My life will not make the movie of the week and I doubt I will ever be a household name. On the other hand, I am me, I am all I have, and I am very important to a small group of people. Most people can say the same thing.



When I was in college I had a growing feeling of wanting to leave a record. It seemed so empty to live a life and have it forgotten. I thought about my ancestors and wished I could know them. What did they do? What were they like? What did they think and feel? I would never know, but I could leave this information for those to follow me, so I began a journal my senior year.



I kept it for about 5 years. It chronicled my last year in college, my seminary days, and the first year of marriage. The demands of going to school, working, and being married were my excuse to stop writing. Occasionally I would get a burst of creative energy and write a poem or a story. I wrote a piece about this topic and titled it Remembrance.



Thanks to an iMac frying lightning strike in 2001, I purchased a new computer and digital video recorder. I began making videos combining family memories. This genre appealed to me because I could be both creative and a historian. At present, I am making a year end video for 2003. I hope to make this a regular part of my routine.



As I sift through my digital photos and video, I am amazed at how many good times I had this year. The great thing about a digital camera is it makes it easier to take lots of photos. I carry mine with me almost everywhere and take pictures of things I would not have a few years ago.



Blogging fit my needs perfectly. I have been recording my memories from years gone by and the day to day experiences. It has given me another avenue to be creative, to share, and to meet new people.



I will spend the rest of this year looking back, recording, being grateful, and smiling as I relive some great times.



Until the next time

John Strain

Numbers Unfathomable

As many as 40,000 people may have died in the earthquake in Bam, Iran on December 26. I do not know about you, but those numbers are beyond my comprehension. On 9/11/01 3,000 Americans died in the terrorist attacks - a figure less than 10% of the Iran quake victims.



In the aftermath, the Iran government has opened its airspace to transport planes and relief workers are not required to have visas. All countries are welcome to help out except Israel. I guess some things will never be overcome.

Dec. 26: An Iranian mother, centre, cries over the body of her daughter in Bam city after an earthquake.

The article I read made some references to individuals. A man in a white turban fainted when he saw the hand of his teenage daughter. Another man said his four year old daughter drew him a picture the night before the quake. She kissed her father four times before running off to bed. He asked her, "why four kisses." She said, "I may not see you again papa." The man's wife also died in the earthquake.



Survivors are sleeping outside in near freezing weather. There are no utilities and aid is trickling in. A city of 80,000 reduced to 50% of its population in a moment.



All over the world people die in large numbers from war, starvation, and natural disasters. The numbers can be staggering and unfathomable. When I turn on the news, however, the content is weighted toward Lacy Peterson or Michael Jackson. We wonder why society is superficial?



In the universe a life in Iran is as valuable as a life in the United States. This is not true in the media. I have to contemplate 40,000 lives suddenly ending for a while before it starts to sink in. Doing so is not an exercise to simply feel bad for these people, but it is necessary to maintain a realistic perspective as a citizen of earth.



We speak of a global economy. The world is smaller because of the internet, easy travel, and trade. I have come to accept this fact and think accordingly. Still, I do not react emotionally the same when 40,000 Iranians die the way I would if 40,000 Americans were somehow killed.



Right now, I cannot think of anything I can do, but feel for these people. Surely there is an aid organization where a contribution would help. This is another reason to be thankful for a life largely free of such devastation's. It may not always be this way, but it is now and I am thankful for it.



Prayers to the people of Bam, Iran. May your suffering end soon and may the world hear your pleas and send sufficient help.



Until the next time

John Strain

Out of the Box

The presents are unwrapped and out of the box, now it's time to start thinking that way. Christmas evening I opened the pantry door and took out a trash bag. For years we kept the trash bags under the sink. I probably walked ten thousand miles from the sink to the trash can before I moved the bags to the pantry right next to the trash can. I was acting out of habit and not thinking. In a week, people will be making New Years resolutions. If these resolutions are to become reality, they will need to be thought out and not born of habit. Some will be the usual, "I need to lose weight" kind, which will never be accomplished. Others will set goals to "go to the health club." They will go for a week or two and then revert to their familiar ways. A few will keep their resolutions. How will they do it?



First, they will spend some time dreaming. Goals have a better chance of getting completed if they are part of a dream. A goal is a step toward our destination. Goals are compass headings. Now, most goals are demanding and require discipline, otherwise we would "just do it." They are not often fun to do, but pay off with a desired result. I may not relish getting up early in the morning and running in the cold, but I like my pants fitting well. Goals are not always doing something; sometimes they are to resist doing something. Examples are to stop smoking, to cut down on our food intake, or to stop procrastinating about a particular project. Dreaming has you imagine what your life would be like if you did "X" or if you stopped doing "Y". With a clear picture in your mind, allow yourself to soak it in and really want it - now realize it is possible IF you are willing to pay the price. You will need this image when you are tempted to shirk your daily duty. Lying in bed just after the alarm goes off, I may need to remind myself why it is necessary to leave the comfortable confines of the warm, cozy bed and go out into freezing weather. Right now I can't remember why, but there is a reason I once dreamed about, ha.



The rest of it is practical stuff anyone can do. Many have written about goals and organizing to get them done. I do not believe the method makes a lot of difference IF your head is in the right place. You must be self motivated or you will break your resolution before the words leave your mouth.



The short answer is this:

A goal must be Measurable, Achievable, and Practical. (MAP)



If a goal is not specific how will you know if you achieved it? Quantify the goal. What will you do? When will you complete it?



Goals also need to be achievable. I could set a goal to be a Navy fighter pilot, but it is not achievable for many reasons. I could set a goal to learn about Navy fighter pilots, but not to be one. You must decide what is and is not achievable. I would not want to squelch someone's dream and the impossible dream has been accomplished. The Wright brothers wanted to fly and they achieved the goal despite popular opinion. They illustrate an earlier point of the head being the most important factor in goal achievement. They could have quit trying to fly, but they WANTED it. WANTING it carries you through the hard times.



The last factor in goal setting is, goals must be practical. If the goal is not a step toward the larger goal, why are you doing it? You could be making good time, but if you are going in the wrong direction, how do you benefit?



I will say more about goals before New Years, but I wanted to remind folks to dream a bit and see if you are in the mood to set a goal this year. You don't have to, but this is as good a time as any. What have you been meaning to do? What have you put off? What bugs you? Is there anything you have been meaning to get done, but haven't? Think how your life would be affected if these issues were addressed.



I invite you to dream a bit - the first step to accomplishing the impossible or just losing five pounds.



Until the next time

John Strain

Merry Christmas

This is a picture of me on the right in 1961 age 4, my sister Becky age 7, and my brother George age 11. I hope you are enjoying your day with friends and family. Merry Christmas.



Until the next time

John Strain