MORE LIGHT FOR BETTER VISION

Better vision comes from two places at 70:

It’s either understanding things better, or cataract surgery.

Let’s go with understanding things better today.

What do you need to see?

It’s a mistake to think you’ve taken it all in, there’s nothing left to see, to do, to care about.

But that’s a feeling for too many people as they age up.

Ignoring change is easier than adapting.

The new noise your car makes? It’s nothing. Or, I don’t hear a thing.

A new crack in your house’s foundation? It’s just settling, not sliding.

The sour feeling in your stomach for no reason?

You might be right, nothing to worry about, but why not do a little more?

 

Start With A List?

How many times have you heard, “Been there, done that, got the t-shirt,” and come away wondering?

Where was it? What happened?

The biggest question in history, for history, is ‘What Happened?’

Inquiring minds want to know.

More important for those not history-oriented?

Who did it?

In a celebrity – influencer – click driven online world, ‘who did it’ is not the icing on the cake, it is the cake.

Who cares about a bunch of nerds doing their nerd dance?

 

“for foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks”

“for foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks”

“for protein structure prediction”

“for the discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation”

“for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life”

“for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again”

“for studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity”

 

Who cares when you’ve got celebrity women defying the laws of nature by looking like twenty year olds on their fiftieth birthday, thirty year olds on their sixtieth.

Nothing matters more than dramatically debuting a new haircut and color during what the rest of call getting a cup of coffee.

When someone cures cancer it better not be the same day as a Kardashian family event, or a Met Gala.

Have you ever wondered what it’s going to look like when you go under the microscope?

I want the Mother Teresa deal of doing small things with great intentions.

 

“he was dedicated to his wife and kids, to a fault.”

“he was involved with his grandkids, to a fault.”

“he enjoyed others’ success more than his own, to a fault.”

 

I like the company of wife and kids, grandkids, and people who drive themselves harder than they drive anyone else.

My great intention is making that time shine.

Sometimes it’s too much, other times not enough, but I have the same goals with the same people.

 

Living Large

If you’ve met new people who have amazing stories then you know the thrill.

“Where have they been all my life?”

In no time at all you’ve got better vision, better light, and you see things differently.

That’s the best outcome, but not the only one.

The other is learning to manage disappointment.

 

What do you mean you weren’t an astronaut?

Are you saying you didn’t race in the Indianapolis 500?

Huh, you didn’t invent sliced bread?

 

I want to believe people at their word as much as the next guy, as long as the next guy isn’t Frank Abagnale Jr.

Broken trust is a broken promise, broken loyalty, and it’s hard if not impossible to fix.

My good fortune is having a functioning bullshit detector, which ought to be a common appliance for everyone 70 and above.

Or sixty and above.

Lower?

I had mine installed at age nineteen by the U.S. Army in 1974 with this statement:

“You’re not saluting the man, you’re saluting the uniform.”

 

A salute is a public sign of respect and recognition of another’s higher rank.

When in uniform, you salute when you meet and recognize an officer entitled to a salute by rank except when inappropriate or impractical.

I salute the people I know and respect.

You should do the same.

SAH LUTE.